By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

With a three-game losing streak on its back, the Oakville Senior High boys’ basketball found a way to get back on track.

The Tigers (15-7, 4-2 Suburban West) grabbed a 54-49 win against the Northwest Lions last Friday. The victory keeps Oak-ville in a third-place tie in the conference standings with Kirkwood.

“The kids have been playing so hard and we’ve been coming up short in the last few ball games,” Oakville head coach Kenny Ash said. “Northwest is a pretty good ball club and beating them was a good win for us.”

Oakville’s Casey Noll exploded for 24 points, also grabbing 13 rebounds and swatting away three Lion shots. The senior forward averages 16.2 points and 10 rebounds a game in his first season with the Tigers.

“He brought his ‘A’ game that night,” Ash said. “Without him, we would have found ourselves looking at a loss.”

Drew Martin also had a dominating performance with 20 points, 13 rebounds and one blocked shot. The senior center has been a solid offensive threat all season, amassing 14.5 points and 9.6 rebounds a game this season.

“He did all of that in less than three quarters because he was in foul trouble,” Ash said. “Our team goal was to get the ball inside to him and that’s what we did.”

The Tigers are on the road to battle Fox at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a Suburban West Conference showdown.

The Warriors are 6-15 overall with a mark of 1-4 in conference play and have won two of their last four games. Fox won last year’s meeting with the Tigers 62-56.

“We’re at their place and they actually beat us (there) last year,” Ash said. “They’ve got a lot of confidence and are a well-coached team.”