Lakecrest stymies Lake Orion Baptist’s upset bid
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
CLARKSTON —Lake Orion Baptist has been anything but an offensive showcase this season on the basketball court. The Lions have had to go to the defensive side of the game in order to compete.
The defensive schemes almost worked out against top-ranked Waterford Lakecrest Baptist.
The Lions held Lakecrest to a season-low 37 points in the Michigan Association of Christian Schools Division II sectional finals, but the Defenders still squeaked out a 37-27 win over Lake Orion Baptist at Clarkston Springfield Christian.
Lakecrest Baptist (22-6), which regularly plays only six players, advances to the MACS Division II state semifinals this Friday, where the Defenders will face Corunna Immanuel Christian at 6 p.m. at Davison Faith Baptist. Lake Orion Baptist finishes the season with a 4-13 record.
“It was a great defensive game. I thought we did a great job (containing) their go-to players, but we just didn’t have the offense to win,” admitted Lake Orion Baptist coach Joe Bullen, who has coached small school basketball in the state since the early 1970s. “We knew we wouldn’t be able to match them point-for-point. We had to play good defense on their star players and try to contain them.
Lake Orion Baptist senior guard Connor Welby held Lakecrest’s Doug Franklin to only 14 points, far below his average, while Matt Simpson was held to 10 points for the Defenders.
The Defenders lived up to their namesake on the defensive side of the ball, holding Lake Orion to only 25 percent shooting and to a season-low 27 points.
The two teams were tied 8-8 at the end of the first quarter and 17-17 at the half.
Lakecrest used a 10-6 edge in the third quarter for a 27-23, only to outscore the Lions 8-4 in the final frame to advance.
“we were within four points with a couple of minutes to go, we just couldn’t get our shots to fall,” admitted Bullen, whose team graduated four players and had another key player transfer to Lake Orion High School.. “I thought they did a good defensive job on James Noruk. He’s scored over 20 points in a few games this season. They did a good job of shutting him down.”
Noruk, a junior guard and the sole returning starter from last season, was held to just seven points for the Lions after scoring a career-high 28 points last week in a 57-52 win over Springfield Christian
Freshman forward Jason Noruk scored 11 for Lake Orion Baptist.
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Category: High School, Lake Orion Baptist, Prep Wraps
