Liggett hands Oakland Christian first loss
BY TIMOTHY PONTZER
STUDENT CORRESPONDENT
GROSSE POINTE WOODS — In the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue Division this season, two programs are starting to separate from the pack.
The Lancers of Auburn Hills Oakland Christian and the Knights of Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett have both enjoyed very successful seasons, dominating opponents on both ends of the court.
On Tuesday night, something had to give as fans packed the Liggett gym for a clash of the titans. In the end, it was the host Knights who avenged an earlier defeat and handed Oakland Christian its first loss of the season with a 57-54 victory.
The win forged a tie in the loss column for the MIAC-Blue lead, with Oakland Christian, ranked ninth in Class D, holding a half-game advantage on the Knights.
The Lancers (14-1, 10-1) came into the contest with an unblemished record, the program’s best start in over a decade. University Liggett (13-1, 9-1) boasted an impressive record as well, only having one loss, which came at the hands of the Lancers last month.
Both teams started the game strong offensively, trading baskets on the way to 14-12 lead for the Knights at the end of the first quarter. The Lancers exploded in the second quarter, ending the first half with a 16-0 run, fueled by four straight three pointers, including three straight from freshman John Van Noord.
University Liggett head coach Sidney Johnson was impressed by the Lancers’ play in the second quarter, especially that of Van Noord.
“Absolutely unbelievable,” he said, “We were able to contain them and put up good shots ourselves, we just couldn’t get them to fall. He (Van Noord) hit three threes in a row with a hand in his face every time. That (16-0 run) gave them a lot of energy going into the locker room.”
Aided by the strong run to close out the second quarter, the Lancers went into halftime with a 32-20 lead. Van Noord notched nine points in the first half, and Lancers junior Drew Perrin recorded 10 points in the first two quarters. The game’s eventual leading scorer, University Liggett sophomore Eric Ewing paced the Knights’ attack with 11 points in the first half.
Despite all of the momentum going into halftime, the Lancers struggled to put the Knights away in the second half. University-Liggett took advantage of uncharacteristic mistakes by Oakland Christian to claw their way back into the game.
Oakland Christian could only muster three points in the first five minutes of the third quarter due to poor shots and turnovers. The Knights outscored the Lancers 15-10 in the third to narrow the deficit to only seven points at 42-35.
Johnson credited his team’s rally to adjustments made at halftime.
“We put a lot of pressure of them, using our man-to-man defense, making them rush on their possessions. We were able to put a lot more pressure in the backcourt without fouling, something we were unable to do last game.”
The game Johnson was referencing was a 60-46 Lancers win back on Jan. 19 in Auburn Hills. Johnson noticed one major difference between that contest and Tuesday’s matchup.
“We simply didn’t give enough effort the first game. They landed a haymaker on us early which overwhelmed us,” he said. “Tonight we played with a lot more energy.”
That energy helped the Knights complete an impressive comeback, tying the game 48-48 at the end of regulation to force overtime. The Knights continued to outperform their opponent offensively, outscoring the Lancers 13-6 in the fourth quarter. In fact, all six points that the Lancers notched in the final quarter were off of free throws.
Oakland Christian head coach Dennis Hopkins attributed the comeback to his team’s lack of failure on offense.
“The difference was we did not execute out half-court offense, we tried to go out on our own, instead of staying back and looking for better shots,” he said. “We have to win with five players, not just one.”
Two categories stood out for the second half, in the free throws and turnovers. Oakland Christian was 50 percent (4-for-8) from the charity stripe in the second half, while University-Liggett shot percent (6-for-10).
Oakland Christian committed a dastardly 14 turnovers in the second half, while the Knights held onto the ball, committing only two turnovers in the same time span.
Hopkins pointed to the turnovers as one of the main reasons for his squad’s first loss of the season.
“Turnovers are huge, our possessions have to end on shots, even if they don’t go in, we still have to get a look. Last game we only had nine (turnovers for the whole game) and the game before that we had seven. We have to give them credit, they played well, but he helped them out as well.”
From the other bench, Johnson pointed to another reason for his team’s victory.
“Rebounding was absolutely the key. We were able to pull down most of the rebounds on both ends of the floor, especially in that second half.”
The coach contrasted this performance with the previous meeting with the Lancers
“In the last game, they had a bunch of second chance shots, I still see it in my nightmares. When they did that they were able to kick us around. Tonight we didn’t allow that.”
Hopkins was very critical of his offense.
“We didn’t execute offensively, we only ended up winning one quarter. We had shots at the rim, we just didn’t put them in. We have to have more composure, and I don’t mean people freaking out, I mean taking our time and making smart decisions. Instead of trying a circus shot, we need to set up a better look. That composure makes the difference between a good shot and a great shot.”
Despite the loss, Hopkins was able to pull some positives from the game especially with the playoffs coming up.
“This was a very physical game. It was a playoff atmosphere, our best look at what the playoff will be like if we can go deep. 14-1 is pretty darn good, and I don’t care if we are undefeated, we are getting ready for March.”
Hopkins believed that the loss could even help his team.
“If we use this well, it can help us out as motivation. It also can definitely take the pressure off us, not being undefeated anymore. Now we don’t have to worry about that record and we can simply go out and play basketball.”
Johnson was very pleased with the result, citing it as a major exclamation point in his team’s season. “This is definitely our biggest win of the year, OCS is a good program with a good coach. This came at a good time for us, it gives us momentum, and it gives us an opportunity to at least tie for the MIAC championship.”
For the Lancers, Perrin led the way with 14 points and Van Noord added 12 points.
Eric Ewing led all scorers dropping 23 points for the Knights, while senior Dominic Jamett added nine points.
Despite not putting up a lot of points on the score sheet, Coach Johnson specifically pointed out his other senior player as a major reason for his team’s win.
“Our senior point guard, Carl (Ghafari) was handling the ball well which cut down on turnovers. I know Eric (Ewing) played well, but I don’t want Carl to be overshadowed.
Concerning Ewing, Johnson praised the sophomore.
“He was initiating a lot of our offenses, and he ran a lot of our specials. He usually got the first pass off our screens which let him hit shots.”
(Timothy Pontzer is a senior at Oakland Christian High School and part of the Student Correspondent Program at www.northoaklandsports.com)
Category: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Prep Wraps
