Lancers drop rival Lutheran Northwest to move to 16-1

BY TIMOTHY PONTZER

STUDENT CORRESPONDENT

AUBURN HILLS — With only a handful of games left before the postseason, several favorites are beginning to emerge. One of those favorites is the Lancers from Auburn Hills Oakland Christian.

The Lancers are off to their best start in the program’s history since the 1996-1997 campaign. Behind tough defense and a balanced offensive attack, Oakland Christian (No. 7 Class D bankhoops) is looking to make a deep run in March.

However, before the big games in March, business must first be taken care of to finish off the regular season. The Lancers (16-1, 11-1) did just that on Tuesday when they hosted rival Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest (9-8, 5-5) in Michigan Independent Athletic Conference Blue Division play.

Oakland Christian slowly pulled away and coasted to a 55-40 win, maintaining their undefeated run on their own court.

The Crusaders were impressive early, taking the lead behind strong outside shooting from several players. The Lancers responded with impressive play of their own, closing out the first quarter with a 10-2 run to close the quarter with the lead at 17-10.

Lutheran Northwest came out strong to start the second quarter, taking advantage of poor shooting by the Lancers. The Crusaders tied the game with a 7-0 run, while the Lancers failed to score a point for the first six minutes of the second quarter. However, Oakland Christian answered their opponent’s run with  eight unanswered points to close out the quarter.

The 8-0 run came entirely in the final two minutes of the half and was capped by a three at the buzzer to give the Lancers the momentum going into the locker room.

The buzzer-beater was shot by junior Drew Perrin, who had five points for the Lancers in the first half. Fellow junior Nathan Piasecki led all scorers in the first half with nine points and freshman D.J. Stevens added seven points.

For the Crusaders, Gushere Rathore had seven points for the Lutheran Northwest attack and sophomore Nathan Drews had five points in the first half.

With the momentum on their side, the Lancers came out strong in the second half, scoring nearly 20 in the third quarter to increase their lead 44-29. The Crusaders failed to score points in the paint, relying on outside shooting to carry them. As shot after shot from behind the arc clanked off the rim, the deficit widened further.

Lutheran Northwest head coach Don Pontillo was very blunt in his assessment of his team.

“We’re not really that big, so we’re one-dimensional, using our threes,” he said.

When the fourth quarter started, and the game seemingly decided, both teams featured many backup players. Pontillo used the fourth as a time for some of his kids to rest for the upcoming games.

“We have three straight games on three consecutive games because of snow days,” Pontillo said, “We have (University) Liggett tomorrow so I kind of let up towards the end there.”

Oakland Christian head coach Dennis Hopkins was pleased with his team’s overall performance, especially with the way his team was able to grind it out on offense.

“We had consistency on offense. We had a bucket on every other possession,” Hopkins said. “If you take that lull away in the 2nd quarter, we had a point per possession.”

Hopkins was also pleased with the way his team handled the game, despite outside circumstances. “It is exam week, we gutted through this one. It will help us out in the playoffs we know that we can have an off night and still win.”

Coach Pontillo was pleased with his team’s effort, citing the toughness of the opponent. In the previous meeting between the two squads the Lancers won 70-47. While his team did better much better than that game, especially on defense, the coach was blunt in his assessment.

“To me if I lose by two or by 30, a loss is a loss,” Pontillo stated, “They’re (Oakland Christian) a good team, well balanced, and there is a reason they’re 16-1. They should go deep in the playoffs.”

Stevens and Perrin tied to lead all scorers with 11 to power the Oakland Christian attack, while junior Charles Hayden added points. For Lutheran Northwest, sophomore Josh Morrison and Rathore both finished with seven points for the Crusaders.

(Timothy Pontzer is a senior at Oakland Christian High School and a member of the Student Correspondence Program.)

Tags: boys basketball, MIAC Blue Division, rivalry

Category: Auburn Hills Christian Acadamy, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, High School, Prep Wraps, Rochester Hills Lutheran NW