Final basketball rankings: The section’s best turnaround story lives in Oakdale
Oakdale has gone from a 2025 play-in team to a guaranteed spot in the 2026 postseason in possibly the Sac-Joaquin Section’s best turnaround story this season.
The Mustangs lost half of their scoring from 2025 and are playing with a number of first-year varsity players, which makes the story even better. Led by first-year head coach Kelly Power, Oakdale went 22-6 in the regular season and 7-3 in Valley Oak League play, their most wins in over 20 years. They secured a No. 10 seed in the section playoffs and have a shot at a first round upset Wednesday on the road against Beyer.
It all started in the summer.
They didn’t focus only on team development. They didn’t play a rigorous fall or summer schedule like most schools . They traded their van trips to college camps and summer leagues for time on the Oakdale High gym. Power and the team focused on offseason individual performance. Their whole goal was to develop players’ fundamentals and help guys get better. That, Power believed, would help generate team success.
“They started believing,” Power said after a league game against Central Catholic. “We brought a different kind of style that hasn’t been tried here at Oakdale before and they bought in.”
The Mustangs took a college approach, which makes sense considering their new head coach’s background.
Power comes a from mid-major college basketball royalty coaching tree. He was a manager at Saint Mary’s for Randy Bennett. One of his best friends is University of Florida National Championship winning head coach Todd Golden. Golden came out to Oakdale and talked to the team in the summer.
“I’ve got some good juice,” Power said.
Last season’s play-in win earned the Mustangs their first playoff berth in 20 years and they wanted to build on that this season.
Bryce Busam, a senior, started the season hot, averaging around 20 points a game in non-league and early in league play. Busam also had a supporting cast full of competitors. Seniors Gavin Wyatt, Niki Jones and sophomore Donavyn Hernandez showed countless times they were never afraid of the moment, knocking down big shots in a competitive VOL schedule that saw them earn wins over Mountain House, East Union and Patterson.
“They were gym rats, man,” Power said. “I told them whenever they want to go, we can go. They were calling me at 6:30 Saturday nights and I was leaving my wife and kids being like, ‘Hey, sorry, going to open this gym,’” Power said with a laugh.
The team is riding high and faces one of Modesto’s most consistent basketball programs Wednesday in No. 7 Beyer.
The Patriots are back-to-back WAC champions and have played in section title games under head coach Kyle McKim. They are also motivated by last season’s first-round disappointment where they were in the same situation , but lost to El Capitan.
It is also a homecoming game of sorts for Power and his family. Though Kelly is from Fairfield, his wife went to Beyer. They met in the Bay Area and returned to the Central Valley in the 2010s
He spent time as the JV coach before taking over the varsity program this year, leading a team that just three seasons ago went 6-21 to a season with 22 wins.
“It’s hard, but all the credit goes to the guys,” Power said. “They’ve gotten so much better. It’s hard to do if you don’t have good basketball players and they’ve put in the time, they’ve put in the effort. Those summer nights when they could have been with their friends at the pool, they’re in the gym. I was telling them the whole time, this is going to matter.”
Modesto Christian is the top overall seed
Modesto Christian or Sheldon? That was the question many had going into the Sac-Joaquin Section basketball playoff selection show Saturday afternoon. After running through brackets in every other division, section assistant commissioner Will DeBoard revealed that it was the Crusaders who were awarded the top seed in the section’s top division for the second straight season.
Modesto Christian just locked up its 30th straight league championship and its fourth straight undefeated Tri-City Athletic League title. It is 22-6 heading into Wednesday’s first round action and secured home court advantage until the D-I section title game Feb. 28 at Golden 1 Center.
The Crusaders won three straight D-I titles before losing in the championship game to Folsom last year. Now, they look to get back to the title game for the fifth straight season and for the first time under new head coach Chris Teevan. Their journey starts Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between No. 16 Downey and No. 17 Tokay.
Key first round home games
Four Stanislaus District boys basketball teams will host first-round playoff games Wednesday. Boys play-in contests are Tuesday at 7 p.m. The top seed in the entire boys postseason, Modesto Christian, secured home-court advantage through the semifinals. If their No. 1 seed holds, the first game they will play away from Sisk Road would be the D-I section title game Feb. 28 at 8 p.m.
In Division III, No. 7 Beyer and No. 8 Central Catholic each locked up first-round home games as did Ripon Christian, the No. 8 seed in D-IV. Each team will spend the rest of their playoff journeys on the road if seedings hold.
Here are the local first round home matchups:
Division I
No. 16 Downey/Tokay at No. 1 Modesto Christian
Division III
No. 10 Oakdale at No. 7 Beyer
No. 9 Roseville at No. 8 Central Catholic
Division IV
No. 9 Union Mine at No. 8 Ripon Christian
Top seeded CCAL team hits the road
Enochs and Gregori tied for the Central California Athletic League championship after each finished with 9-1 records after the split the season series. Enochs won the first matchup at home, 75-66 and Gregori took the rematch in a competitive 66-61 game. The Jaguars went ahead by 20 at the half, but Enochs rallied back, making it a competitive game at the end.
Ultimately, Enochs was awarded the highest seed and avoided Tuesday’s play-in. The Eagles, the No. 10 team in Division I, travel to Inderkum, looking to upset the No. 7 Tigers. Gregori was awarded the No. 14 seed and travels to No. 3 Folsom. Downey finished third in the league standings, going 6-4 against league opponents, and hosts No. 17 Stagg Tuesday in a Division I play-in game at 7 p.m.
Stats leaders entering the playoffs
All stats are for players on playoff teams taken from MaxPreps
Points
3rd — Koby Cervantes, Denair (25.1)
18th — Nathan Muriithi, Vanguard College Prep (21.9)
23rd — Jake Vander Veen, Ripon Christian (20.1)
27th — Trevor Dickson, Modesto Christian (19.7)
Rebounds
2nd — Koby Cervantes, Denair (14.1)
6th — Nathan Muriithi, Vanguard College Prep (12.7)
9th — Michael Richardson, Downey (11.9)
12th — Somto Patrick, Modesto Christian (11.3)
Assists
3rd — Siincere Hudson, Modesto Christian (6.7)
17th — Titus Boone, Big Valley Christian (5.0)
3PM
7th — Trevor Dickson, Modesto Christian (90)
21st — Gustavo Mora, Vanguard College Prep (66)
T-29 — Jordan Magana, Central Catholic (59)
Stanislaus District final Boys Basketball Top 10
1. Modesto Christian (22-6)
2. Enochs (23-5)
3. Gregori (20-8)
4. Beyer (22-6)
5. Central Catholic (16-12)
6. Oakdale (22-6)
7. Ripon Christian (18-10)
8. Johansen (20-8)
9. Downey (13-15)
10. Escalon (17-11)
