After suffering a three-game losing streak, the Oakville Senior High girls’ basketball team finally got back on the winning track with a 63-33 win over Northwest-House Springs last Friday evening.

Oakville’s success was quite a contrast from its 54-40 setback by Mehlville the previous evening.

“Obviously the Mehlville game has a bit of specialty to it,” Oakville head coach Paul Harrington told the Call.

“I was a little disappointed, but the kids played extremely hard.”

The Tigers (8-11, 2-3 Suburban South Conference) were led by the solid play of senior guard Sarah Bartholic, who scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Oakville’s loss to the Panthers.

Yet one of the things that hurt the Tigers was the fact that not only did Bartholic have four fouls, but it had four other players in foul trouble.

“Sarah certainly knows how important these games are,” Harrington said. “She was really up for the game and took things upon her shoulders. Keeping her on the bench really hurts us.”

Yet the Tigers were a completely different team in the romping of Northwest.

“Northwest is rebuilding and they lost their best player due to an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury,” Harrington said.

“I was really proud of the kids’ effort and their discipline. The kids really played with intensity on defense and patience on offense.”

The Tigers were led by sophomore center Sherry Zehner’s 10 point, six rebounds and one steal effort.

Harrington was the first one to admit that it was good to see Zehner starting to get back into her old form.

“She’s been a force all year long,” Harrington said.

“She’s closer to getting back to 100 percent after her ankle injury,” he added.

Oakville takes to the road this week as it travels to University City this Friday for a Suburban South Conference match with an improved and talented Lions squad.

In fact, the Lions started out the season with a 12-0 record, which brings concern to any opposing team’s head coach.

“Any time you start off 12-0, that’s awesome,” Harrington said. “They’ve got a couple of kids who’ll help them win a lot of ball games.”

Yet like many coaches, Harrington broke everything down to the basics when speaking about what is needed for the Tigers to win.

“It really comes down to two things, minimize turnovers and do a good job of rebounding,” Harrington said.

“If we can meet those goals, it gives us a good opportunity to win.”

Oakville’s conference matchup with the Lions is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.