Still red hot after handling Rocklin two days ago, the Oakmont High boys basketball team took over the lead in the Sierra Foothill League Friday night.

The Vikings went into hostile territory in Loomis and knocked off Del Oro for the second time this season. This time, the margin was seven points at 72-65.

The game did not begin with the look of an Oakmont road victory, as the home team came out hitting its shots and took an early 8-1 lead led by the scoring of Aaron Hendricks, who drained two early 3-pointers.

“We took the timeout after their quick start, and we knew we were fine,” said Oakmont coach Rick Campbell. “This is a resilient team. We took their first punch and then it was our turn.”

A combination of Fred Mobley at the free throw line after strong takes to the rim, Tony Gill on the inside and Alex Ford from beyond the arc brought Oakmont roaring back and the Vikings took an 18-16 lead after one quarter.”

“We were confident even after the way it started,” Ford said. “We knew we had it. When my shot is on, I can feel it from the start.”

Oakmont, already playing minus one of its starters as point guard Matt Daly sat this one out after having his wisdom teeth pulled, had to battle through some foul trouble as Ford picked up two quick ones in his assignment to guard Del Oro’s Spencer Butterfield, while J.T. Adenrele was also whistled twice. With two offensive fouls in the mix, Gill had three at the break and had to sit out the first half of the third period.

The strength of Butterfield and Hendricks makes for a tough defensive assignment for each Del Oro opponent, and Friday night was no exception. Mobley and Ford drew the bulk of the assignment, but the real key was the Vikings’ ability to help on defense.

“Butterfield is so strong,” Campbell said. “He is right-handed but he tends to want to go left when he puts the ball on the floor. You can’t leave Hendricks or (Nick) Lewis, so the help has to come from the big guys. You want him to take the 15-footer. That’s a lot better than the two-footer.”

“He’s hard to defend,” Ford said. “You have to back off him a little bit and make sure you get your hands up when he takes the shot.”

Nathaniel Grady was solid all night long after getting the start for Daly, and Eric Marten had a pair of critical baskets in his limited minutes on the front line. Grady picked up a huge blocked shot in the third quarter to slow one of the Eagles’ runs.

“One of the great things about this team is guys like Nathaniel and Eric,” Campbell said. “These guys know their roles and everyone does their part.”

With Adenrele controlling the glass and swatting away potential Golden Eagle baskets, Oakmont made a small run in the second and a bigger run in the third stanza. Every time Del Oro made a charge at the Viking lead, it seemed that Oakmont found Ford for an open three or had Gill step out and bury a long-range dagger.

“I don’t think Ford missed a shot all night,” said Del Oro coach Geoff Broyles. “We wanted to stop the ball and then hope they don’t hit the three, but they hit 11 of them on us. That’s hard to beat.”

Ford had five of those 3-pointers and Gill also connected five times from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-8 center did his best work in the fourth quarter, as Gill’s three 3-pointers allowed Oakmont to survive Del Oro’s final run.

The Vikings did a nice job once again at moving the ball and doing what was necessary to get open looks at the basket.

“We run some specific things to set things up,” Campbell said, “but we just have some really good basketball players who know how to set each other up.”

Oakmont opened a 60-42 lead with 6:24 remaining, but that brought out the best in Hendricks and Butterfield. The duo brought their team roaring back, first with an 11-1 run and eventually closing within four. Oakmont hit its free throws down the stretch and salted this one away.

“The way they shoot the three, we knew they had another run in them,” Campbell said. “We were not comfortable even up 18 in the fourth quarter.”

Hendricks scored 25 points to lead the Eagles and Butterfield scored 16. Both players pulled down six boards.

Ford led all scorers with 27 points, while Gill scored 24 and pulled down nine rebounds. Mobley scored 11 points to go with five assists. It was not a big scoring night for Adenrele, as the 6-6 junior scored just six points, but he was a huge difference-maker with 15 rebounds and six blocked shots.

“These guys are a very difficult matchup for anyone,” Broyles said. “This league is that way. I’m glad we play in the Division III playoffs. Division II is going to be really tough. Every team in our league has to feel prepared for anything in the playoffs after playing in games like this.”

Del Oro (4-4 in the SFL, 13-8 overall) visits Roseville (0-9, 4-20) Wednesday night.

The win puts Oakmont (7-2 in the SFL, 17-5 overall) on top of the SFL standings and sets up a huge battle for first place when Woodcreek (6-2, 18-5) comes to the Vikings’ gym at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night.

“We’re not where we want to be yet, but we control our own destiny,” Campbell said, “This made that an even bigger game, and whatever happens Wednesday, the atmosphere is going to be insane.”