WATERVILLE – The Oroville Hornets boys basketball team continued with their winning ways last week, knocking off both Waterville and Manson on the road.

In their 80 to 51 victory against the Shockers Tuesday, Jan. 13, the Hornets broke Waterville’s press and scored a lot of “easy buckets,” according to Oroville Coach Carl Iverson.

“We had 46 points in the first half,” Iverson said. “They switched to the zone the second half and we hit some big shots.”

Coach Iverson said his team’s defense was able to hold their leading scorer to well below his normal average.

“We had good team defense and the key was being able to break their press,” Iverson said.

High points scorer for Oroville was Brandon Funston with 18 points, followed by Marcus Kinman and Cody Mills with 16 apiece. Adam Peterson added 12 points, followed by Preston Iverson with 10, Chris Wooley with four and Zac Spieker with one.

“I brought Zac up from the JV for one game because Blaine Wagner was gone and Luke Rowton dislocated his shoulder in the first quarter and had to be rushed to the hospital,” the coach said.

Even playing without consistent contributor Rowton, the Hornets were still able to put away the Manson Trojans on Friday, Jan. 16 by a score of 66 to 45.

“We played good team man-to-man defense… they were quicker so we focused on keeping them in front of us,” said Iverson.

The Hornets pressured the Trojans and were able to shut down their offense getting off to a 22 to six lead in the first quarter.

Kinman was top scorer for the night with 16 points, followed by Mills with 14, Funston and Preston Iverson with 12, Wolley with six and Isaac Iverson with two.

“Both Adam and Cody had seven rebounds and we controlled the boards because of their size,” Iverson said. “Brandon did a great job at point guard and that was one of the keys to our win.”

Preston Iverson, a sophomore, had his first high school start and scored seven for the Hornets in the first quarter.

“He was playing real strong,” said his coach.

Manson’s team was led by Schuyler Neff and Alex Escalon with 12 points each.

The win against Manson was the Hornet’s sixth in a row, five in a row for the NC2B putting Oroville at the top of the league.

“We have a tough one tomorrow night when Bridgeport comes to town,” said Iverson last Monday. “They’re in second place and have been playing good ball.”

Iverson says the key against Bridgeport will to get off to a quick start.