CRESWELL – All-conference guard Tyler Whitson came into his senior basketball season knowing he needed to carry a heavy load, as he was the only player with significant playing time last season. But some of his young teammates – especially Mason Schartz – are stepping up and taking the team by the horns. Whitson and Schartz both had double-doubles Friday night as Creswell improved to 4-0 with a 64-58 victory over a highly regarded Oakland team, which had won each of its first three games by at least 20 points.
“This was Mason’s best game by far,” Creswell coach Jesse Thomas said after the 6-foot-4 forward
racked up 16 points and 10 rebounds. “Mason is as good a vocal leader as we’ve had since Carter Cunningham,” he said, referring to the 2021 former point guard.
“He takes on the hardest defensive assignment every night. Sometimes when you have a younger guy like that who takes charge, the older guys kind of resent it or they blow him off, but our
older guys don’t and I think they feed off of him.
“So far in two big wins, he’s had two massive dunks that really got the energy where it needed to be, so I’m happy for him and happy for our group that we were able to close the game out against a high-quality team.”
Oakland took a 56-53 lead on Joseph Fusco’s three-point play with 4:57 remaining. Darien Dewey, who scored 12 points for Creswell, hit a floater, then Whitson added a free throw to tie the game. Whitson then nailed a 3-pointer at the 2:15 mark to make it 59-56, then he added five more free throws down the stretch to keep the Oakers at bay.
Whitson ended his evening with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Andy McCurdy led Oakland with 15, while Fusco had 14.
BOB WILLIAMS / THE CHRONICLE PHOTO
Oakland was the bigger team, including 6-9 sophomore center Jaxson Clark, yet the ’Dogs held their ground in the paint.
“They’re super tough, physical, and strong,” Thomas said. “They have some good-size kids, so we knew we would be challenged physically, but even though we had a few breakdowns, I think we held our own on the boards,” he said.
