Photo by Chloe Chen

The seventh grade junior high boys’ basketball poses after a hard-earned third-place victory in their tournament.

Featuring girls tennis, boys basketball, and girls soccer, junior high intramural sports recently wrapped up their second quarter after a long season of practices and games. 

Girls Tennis:

The girls tennis team had an outstanding run, remaining undefeated during their regular season and clinching the championship with a score of 9-3. 

This year was no exception to their winning streak, with certain key players proving essential to the team’s success. One such player was 8th grader Holly Hua, who played singles one. 

“Holly led by example and did a great job every day at practice. She is a fierce competitor and hates to lose—and doesn’t lose much,” said Sam Clark, the team’s coach. 

Boys Basketball:

Junior high boys basketball, divided by grades, also did well. In their tournament, the seventh grade team ended in third place with a 3-1 record. While the eighth grade team was unable to place, they followed close behind with a respectable 2-2 record in their tournament games. 

Unfortunately, the eighth-graders couldn’t advance after losses to Walker and South, despite taking wins against Ball and Brookhurst. Seventh grade fared slightly better, but Walker proved to be their most challenging opponent with their match ultimately leading to Oxford’s third-place standing. 

Girls Soccer:

The girls soccer team ended their tournament with a record of 1-3 for both seventh and eighth grade teams. Despite the losses, this season marked significant progress from two years ago, when a lack of players forced the girls to forfeit their games. 

According to their coach, Alborz Zadeh, a shocking moment during the season was when eighth-grader Maya Diaz experienced a head injury during the first half of a game. 

“That really stopped the energy, and we didn’t know what to do,” said Zadeh. “Later on, she came back to the game and played even though she got hit in the face. That was a big spiritual moment for us.”

The season concluded with many thrilling moments, and seventh and eighth-grade players alike look forward to their athletic futures at Oxford.

“I hope that we can go farther in the tournament,” said eighth grade soccer player Sophie Renta. “Instead of the championship being against Walker and Lexington, maybe Oxford can [compete] for first too.”