Slow fourth-quarter offense dooms Troy in loss to Lake Orion
BY JAKE LOURIM
STUDENT CORRESPONDENT
LAKE ORION — Thursday’s varsity girls’ basketball game was a tale of two second-half quarters.
Troy gave up a 13-point lead at Lake Orion Thursday, putting up only four points in the final period.
Lake Orion hit two free throws with a minute and a half left to cut the Troy lead to one.
After running nearly a minute off the clock, Troy missed a shot, leaving the door open for a game-winner.
The Dragons’ jumper from the corner gave them their first lead since early in the second quarter.
Karin Moss missed a jumper with less than 10 seconds left. Lake Orion got the rebound inside, but fell down with the ball and traveled.
Inside five seconds left, Moss made a bad pass at the buzzer.
“We didn’t make any shots,” said Koch. “I give a lot of credit to the Lake Orion defense; they came out and played hard today and deserved to win the game.”
Lake Orion dominated the entire fourth quarter, pressuring Troy into turning the ball over eight times as well as working the ball inside and outside for an efficient offense.
The Dragons shot five-for-eight in the first four minutes of the quarter, pouring in a put- back while keeping Troy scoreless. That cut the lead to just 34-28.
Lake Orion responded to Sydney Heath’s free throw by hitting a jumper and a post shot to cut the lead to just three with still almost three minutes left.
Sabria Cotton and the Dragons traded baskets, but Cotton’s bucket with 2:21 left would be Troy’s last points of the quarter.
Heath’s free throws were the only foul shots of the quarter for Troy, also a rarity for a team winning in the final moments.
On Dec. 9, Troy won in the first quarter 26-8 and in the first half 42-17, shooting 55 percent for the game in a 63-31 whipping of the Dragons at home.
Thursday, it was 20-19 at halftime and Troy shot 29 percent.
“Last time, we made our shots, and we played great defense and that led to a lot of fast
break points,” said Koch.
“This time, they came out ready to play, they played great defense on Karin, and they handled the ball well. They didn’t allow us to get any fast break points.”
Freshmen scored more than half of Troy’s points — Rachael Zelmanski had 10 points, Heath nine points with 12 rebounds. The Dragons held Moss to just three and senior center Liz Siepker — who signed with Hope College Wednesday — to zero.
The loss is Troy’s fifth in its last seven games, pushing the Colts to 8-5, 7-4 in the OAA Red.
“Last time we handled [Lake Orion] pretty well; I think we got them upset and woke them up,” said Koch. “They had a great game [tonight] and we didn’t. It’s a tough loss, but we’ve got to go back to work and move on.
“We’ve got to do the little things better, and the big things will take care of themselves.”
(Jake Lourim is a sophomore at Troy High School and part of the Student Correspondent Program at www.northoaklandsports.com)
Category: Lake Orion, Prep Wraps, Student Columns, Troy
