By PAUL CIFONELLI
No. 3 Oakfield-Alabama’s boys’ basketball program hadn’t won a Section V championship since 1975. It had only made one Section V championship game since 1985, and that came in 1997. The 2021 version of the Hornets ended both of those streaks, defeating previously unbeaten No. 1 Caledonia-Mumford 55-50 on the road to capture Class C2 gold.
Oakfield-Alabama head coach Ryan Stehlar played at the school in 2003, a year the Hornets lost in the semifinals. He understands how much winning the game meant not only to the program, but to the community.
“It means everything,” Stehlar said. “I’m getting emotional thinking about it because there’s a lot of people that wore the uniform before that have tried to get to this point, but we did it. It means the world and this one’s for the community and the basketball program.”