The gym lights aren’t even warmed up and Oviedo High School’s hardwood warriors are already buzzing with anticipation for the upcoming season. A new basketball season comes with a new identity—and Oviedo is ready to put theirs in fresh ink.
Oviedo came into this new season ready to build upon their 16-12 record from the last, hungry to improve on their 8-7 stretch to finish the season. Last season the team showed flashes with hard-fought wins over in-town rival Hagerty High School and an upset over local powerhouse The Master’s Academy, and they look ahead to build upon that this year.
Key returners include junior point guard Carter Oden, coming off of a season where he averaged 6.4 points, two rebounds, and 3.4 assists, and senior guard/forward Aiden DeMeglio returning from a season where he averaged 2.4 points and two rebounds.
Newcomers to varsity include guard Dawson Jean-Charles, coming off a junior varsity season where he averaged 11.9 points per game, and power forward Jordan Donahoo coming in after averaging 11.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game on the junior varsity team. Senior guard Daniel Stringer transferred from Winter Springs High School to play for Oviedo.
“What really went into my decision is knowing that Coach Young is a great coach and knowing that he will push me to the best I can be as a player,” Stringer said.
So far this season, Oviedo beat Jones 40-37 in the Metro vs. Florida game on Wednesday, Nov. 26 off of a three-point game-winner from Oden, which added to his ten points and five assists. DeMeglio also scored ten and grabbed five rebounds.
“[Scoring the winning basket] felt pretty good,” Oden said. “The game shouldn’t have been that close. It felt good, but I just knew it wasn’t a good game.”
A second victory came in the second game of Oviedo’s regular season on Friday, Nov. 28 over Boca Ciega High School 76-67. Oden led the team with 19 points and five assists, in addition to a 13 point, ten rebound double-double performance from senior forward Xander Bluhm, a transfer from The Master’s Academy, and ten points from DeMeglio.
“We had a rough game, even though we still did win it was a little rough, but it’s just because it’s still the beginning of the season, we have to pick it up,” Jean-Charles said.
The lights are heating up, the stands are filling out, and the Lions? They’re hungry for victory.
