After playing for nearly three months, Orestimba High boys basketball team’s 2025-26 campaign came to an end last Friday when the team lost to Escalon, 78-23, on the road.
Orestimba finished the season on a 14-game losing streak and at 6-22 overall while going winless in Trans-Valley League play at 0-12. The Cougars concluded its regular season at 17-11 overall and 8-4 against league opponents to finish third in TVL standings.
Four players scored in double figures for Escalon as the Warriors had no answer for leading scorer forward Logan Huebner, who recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Following Huebner were center Conner Jones and guard Issac Petalio with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Tommy Green led Orestimba in scoring with six points as several Warriors players struggled offensively against the Cougars’ size. That size helped Escalon to score 46 points inside the arc while shooting 52%.
While his first season didn’t go as expected, Orestimba head coach Donald Dudley said he hopes his players learned some life lessons through the sports such as being dependable, understanding responsibilities and maintaining good grades.
“I think we have a tremendous group of young men, who each have their own challenges in life, and I feel like a lot of them have grown up, especially over the last three years,” Dudley said.
After a back-and-forth opening quarter, the Warriors trailed 10-8. However, like several second quarters this season, Orestimba couldn’t find their rhythm as Escalon moved the ball and forced turnovers to outscore them 40-3 in the period for a 50-11 lead at halftime.
The Cougars continued their momentum in the second half as they outscored the Warriors 28-12 to win by 55 points. Despite trailing, many of Orestimba’s players were sharing a laugh with the coaching staff, especially the nine senior players cherishing the final minutes of their last game together.
“It’s that moment, you know, where the end is coming and moments are flooding through,” Dudley said. “There’s one thing I can say about me and my staff and coach [Charlie Kothenbeutel), who was the previous coach, we truly do connect with our [players].”
As he looks forward to the future, Dudley said he’s excited to keep learning on what improvements to make next season through consecutive criticism from the players and coaching staff.
“I’m sad that this year is over, but it’s like, ‘How can I get better as a head coach? And what I can do to make my athletes better and make their experience better”,’” he said. “And the nice thing is, like I told my kids, you’re never not learning, and that moment that you say that you’re done learning, there’s the moment that you’ll never get better.”
