Warriors sit atop District 3-2A at 2-0

Warriors sit atop District 3-2A at 2-0
Dustin Howard used a play out the Valparaiso playbook to win 52-51 at Rosepine improving his Oakdale Warriors to 2-0 in district. The play for Valparaiso that Howard used came at the buzzer to beat Ole Miss 70-69 in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
"I called a timeout and we set up a play made famous by Bryce Drew at Valparaiso in the NCAA tourney," Howard said. "I had showed them this historical play one day during a film session so they remembered how it was supposed to go. James Evins volunteered to be the quarterback, and he threw a pass that would have made coach Randall Gordon proud to Raymond Guillory who was triple covered near halfcourt."
What happened next will go down in Oakdale lore. In Howard's words, "Raymond took two dribbles and elevated and drained a 40 footer to win it at the buzzer."
The win at Rosepine came four nights after a 50-48 win at home against Pickering. "We were tied at half and hadn't played really well," Howard said. "We had a couple key players fighting illness, but they powered through. I'm glad our team was able to see the immediate reward of fighting hard. Fun win."
As in the Rosepine game, the win came down to basket from Raymond Guillory as time expired. "It was tied 48-48 with under a minute left, and we decided to hold the ball and take the last shot, Howard said. "We got the ball to Raymond and got out of the way. He made a strong move to the basket and made a tough shot to win it. Huge play for a sophomore."
Guillory has 55 points combined in the two district games, and 18 of those came in the last eight minutes of the game against Rosepine. Howard describes him as a "special player" who "has what some coaches call 'the clutch gene.'"
"We are continuing to improve as a team, and we are gaining a ton of experience with all the close games," said Howard. "We may be a little ahead of schedule, but we are going to keep working to get where we want to be. I love this team."
The Warriors are tied with Rapides atop the 3-2A standings, and the two teams collide with each other in Lecompte on January 13.