Kirkland’s 26 leads Oakmont past Fitchburg

ASHBURNHAM » Jaylen Kirkland poured 17 of his game-high 26 points in a raucous second quarter to give host Oakmont Regional needed separation, en route to the Spartans downing visiting Fitchburg, 76-53, Monday night.

The two teams will meet at the Doug Grutchfield Field House Thursday night in what will be their second games of the season.

Second-year Oakmont coach Danny Ortiz was pleased with his team’s performance.

“We played with a lot of intensity tonight,” Ortiz said. “We have a lot of returning guys who have been in our system for a year. I was proud of the way we played, we played hard. I don’t think the score dictates the game — that’s not a bad team over there. We’re going to have our hands full when we go down there Thursday, for sure.”

Second-year Fitchburg coach James McCall noted turnovers — 35 of them to Oakmont’s 14 — hampered the Raiders’ ability to hang with the Central Mass. Division 3 quarterfinalists from March.

“Oakmont is a very, very good team, and a very, very wellcoached team. Danny has them well disciplined, and they make rare mistakes. I told the kids from the jump, ‘We will win this game if we don’t turn the ball over, and we do things we were taught in practice.’ That press they threw on us, it rattled us,” he said.

Oakmont and Fitchburg — both of which missed key players Monday — practically traded baskets early on, with Sam Faulkner’s hoop off a Darnell Thomas helper pulling the Red and Gray to within two, 12-10, with just over two minutes remaining in the first stanza.

But baskets by Ryan Hulecki and Quinn Sugar, sandwiched around a 3-pointer by Brandan Hulecki, put the Spartans ahead, 19-10, at the end of the first.

That first stanza was pretty close, as Oakmont forced seven FHS turnovers to its four.

That changed in the second, as the Spartans’ 1-3-1 got into the passing lanes and denied Fitchburg in the first four minutes.

“We were showing our hand,” McCall explained. “We were looking where we were passing the ball, we weren’t doing ball fakes — things you are taught.”

But not only that, Oakmont used some pretty darn good ball movement to isolate Kirkland alone behind the arc — and even inside.

“He’s been really impressive so far, and I’m extremely proud of that young man,” Ortiz said. “He’s put in a lot of work, and that’s the result of that. Tonight was his night, but he’s not afraid to share the basketball. He’s a complete basketball player.”

“Big-time players make big-time plays,” McCall said. “He’s a big-time player and he wanted the ball in his hands, he demanded the ball in his hands.”

Kirkland popped a pair of treys to open the quarter, giving Oakmont a 25-11 lead. He also fed Sugar to make it a 16-point game, before scoring off a Fitchburg turnover.

Sugar then came up with another steal and fed Ryan Hulecki, who drew the hack and added the harm from the free throw line to put the Spartans up 32-11.

Elijah Jeffreys’ 17-footer ended the run at 22-3.

Kirkland then scored the next seven points — off a Ryan Hulecki theft, off an offensive rebound, and then a 3-pointer — to make it a 39-13 ballgame.

Oakmont led, 47-24, at the half.

Fitchburg opened the third with Jorge Gaitan (team-high 14 points) popping a couple of 3-pointers to go along with a Kenny Marte hoop to pull within 20, but Oakmont scored the next 10.

“Jorge was extremely impressive,” Ortiz said. “We talked about trying to find Jorge, and they found a way to get him open.”

FHS was 7-of-15 in the fourth quarter and limited Oakmont to 3-of-11 in the final stanza.

Fitchburg sophomore Zion Ayala contributed an impressive 10 rebounds off the bench in his varsity debut.

“Our kids are hungry,” McCall said. “Zion is going to be a horse. He’s a humble young man, he’s very coachable. He’s going to be good. And Elijah Jeffreys came and played some good minutes. Anthony Oquendo did, too. We’re going to get better.”