Oakmont b'ball is tournament-bound
By Sean Sweeney Journal Correspondent

It was close, but the Oakmont boys' basketball team came away with a 53-49 victory over Mid-Wach C rival Clinton on Tuesday night.

The win not only puts the Spartans at 10-1 on the 2006-07 season, but also qualified the Big Green Machine for the upcoming Central Mass. Division 2 Tournament. Incidentally, OHRS became the first team in Division 2 to begin the Road to Boynton Hill - that's WPI's Harrington Auditorium - this year.

But within the next few weeks, the South Ashburnham warriors of Sparta should be joined by some very good programs that will be standing in the way of Oakmont's run for the title. Three of those programs had the opportunity to clinch postseason spots after The Community Journal went to press this week.

Of those three schools, one is very familiar to the South Ashburnham Five.

Local Division 2 rival - and defending Division 2 champion - St. Bernard's of Fitchburg, which is 9-0 as of this writing, was slated to take on Worcester Tech on Wednesday; a win would clinch a playoff spot for the Bernardians. That same night in Grafton, the 9-1 Indians were slated to take on Southern Worcester County League-Western Division power Tantasqua, which entered the game with their SWCL-East foes at 9-0. The loser of that match will have to wait a few days to make another attempt at qualifying.

Bartlett High of Webster is also on the verge of securing a playoff spot, as the Sons of Lake Parkway are 9-2 following a 59-42 victory over Quaboag last Tuesday night. That game comes on the heels of back-to-back 90-plus point outings for the Indians against archrival Southbridge and Shepherd Hill last week.

Last year's Division 2 runner-up, Blackstone Millville Regional, will also be able to qualify within the next week. And Clinton, the team that Oakmont defeated on Tuesday night, is a win away (9-1) from going to the second season.

To qualify for the postseason, a team must win 50 percent of its games. As the Oakmont boys have a 19-game schedule, the 10 victories in 11 games assures the Spartans the minimum winning percentage needed to qualify.

There is also the subject of the Clark Tournament, which is played during the school vacation week next month. Being a non-city school, the South Ashburnham warriors of Sparta have the opportunity to qualify for that prestigious event, as well. Only 16 teams qualify for the Clark (by winning percentage), and there is a good chance that Oakmont would be going up against several of the aforementioned teams in what could be a preview of the Central Mass. Final.

Tantasqua and St. Bernard's, however, are ineligible because they play a 20-game regularseason schedule.

The Spartans did just that three years ago, when they faced Groton-Dunstable in the Clark Finals and the Central Mass. Finals. Oakmont lost both contests.

The Spartans' last Clark appearance was 2005.

In Tuesday's game, Kyle Anderson scored 18 points to pace the Spartans, with 16 of them coming in the final 16 minutes. He hit two key free throws with three seconds left in the game to ice the victory.

Jon Griffin added 13 points for Oakmont.

The Spartans had trailed by four with about four minutes remaining in the first half before they came back to take the lead into the locker room.

Last Friday, Oakmont was able to salvage a 59-43 victory at Lunenburg.

Oakmont spread the scoring around, as Blake Sheldon led the Big Green Machine with 17 points, followed by the duo of Ethan Desaulniers and Greg Beaudoin each adding nine points. Anderson added eight points, while Trevor Burt scored seven.

Oakmont is off until Tuesday night as it hosts Bromfield in the new gymnasium.