Oakland Christian cruises past Liggett in battle of unbeatens
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
AUBURN HILLS — Transfers can bring forth plenty of anticipation before they become eligible. For Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, the arrival of a new player just brought forth yet another weapon to the basketball court for an already talented team.
The Lancers welcomed 6-foor-3 transfer Charles Heyden to the floor Tuesday, after the junior sat out the first semester after coming over from Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. Hayden finished with only three points but added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot in his debut, but more importantly, he brought yet another dimension to an undefeated team that was already showcasing plenty of athleticism and depth.
Oakland Christian was back it again Tuesday, building a 29-10 halftime lead and never looking back in downing visiting Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett 60-46 in MIAC Blue Division play
Both teams entered the contest unbeaten, but only the Lancers (7-0, 4-0) left unscathed.
“I think once Charles gets into the (flow) a little bit, the points will come,” said Oakland Christian coach Dennis Hopkins. “The way the other team played defense, it led to some of the other guys scoring points. Talent-wise, Charles is one of our top players, but we had other guys score for us.”
The Lancers had four players reach double figures. After leading 12-6 at the end of the first quarter, Oakland Christian blew the door open with a 17-4 run in the second quarter to grab a comfortable lead.
Junior forward Nathan Piasecki scored 20 with six rebounds to pace a balanced attack for Oakland Christian. Freshman D.J. Stevens came off the bench and supplied 12 points, four rebounds and a trio of assists and both junior center Josh Peterson and junior point guard Drew Perrin scored 10 apiece.
Perrin also finished with a fine floor game that included five assists, five rebounds and three steals to go along with 8-of-8 free throw shooting. Peterson also added five rebounds.
University-Liggett never led in the contest and was tied at 4-4 with 4:05 left in the first quarter before Oakland Christian started to pull away.
The Knights’ pressure defense caused Oakland Christian some problems in the second half, but not enough to make a serious threat. Oakland Christian led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter (35-11).
“I thought that Oakland Christian handled our three-quarters-court trap pretty well, but our full-court trap caused some turnovers and it led to some baskets for us,” said Liggett coach Sidney Johnson. “It also got us into foul trouble and they were able to knock down some free throws.
“I thought we played better in the second half, but we didn’t start to well,” added Johnson. “Oakland Christian is well-coached and they came ready to play. They built a big lead on us and we were never able to come back.”
Oakland Christian led 45-27 entering the fourth quarter. Liggett outscored Oakland Christian 21-16 in the fourth stanza to bring the final down to 14 points.
University-Liggett (5-1, 2-1) did force 17 turnovers, but the Knights could never cut the deficit to less than 10 points in the fourth quarter, the closest being 56-46 with 1:23 to play. Liggett did not score again after that point.
“I thought we played a very good first half,” said Hopkins. “If we play games like the way we did in the first half, then we’ll be fine. If we play the way we did in the second half, then we might be in trouble. We only gave up 10 points in the first half, but we gave up 36 points in the second half and that’s unacceptable.
“I thought we made some unwise decisions with the basketball in the second d half and they got a lot of (transition) buckets and a lot of and-ones,” added Hopkins. “We know that we can take care of the basketball a lot better. We’ll have to the next time we play them. I know (the next time we play them) will be circled on their calendar. I know tonight’s game with Liggett was for us.”
Oakland Christian finished 20-for-30 from the foul line, including 14-of-21 in the final quarter. The Lancers were 19-for-41 from the floor (46.4 percent).
Eric Ewing scored a game-high 22 points for Liggett with six rebounds and four steals, but he made only 11-of-25 field-goal attempts. KeVaughn Jackson added 10 points and five boards for the Knights, who were only 20-for-51 from the floor (39.3 percent).
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Category: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Prep Wraps
