Troy bears down to topple Berkley, wins first league title share since 1994
BY JAKE LOURIM
STUDENT CORRESPONDENT
BERKLEY — Before Thursday night, Troy boys basketball coach Gary Fralick hadn’t won a league title in 17 years.
He figured it was about time to treat his team to some McDonald’s.
Three players scored in double figures to lead Troy) to another road victory at Berkley Thursday night, 77-74, to share the OAA White Division league title with Auburn Hills Avondale.
“It’s something to remember,” said senior Mike Sully of the league title. “We’ll come back here and see it on the wall, and it’ll bring back a ton of memories.”
As with the first contest with Berkley — a 72-70 Troy victory on Jan. 21 — Thursday’s game was an up-tempo offensive struggle.
The teams traded baskets repeatedly for the entire fourth quarter; Troy (16-4, 13-3) wouldn’t relinquish the lead, and Berkley wouldn’t let the Colts pull away.
The bottom line was that Troy didn’t allow Berkley to mount a comeback. The Colts still led by 10 with three minutes to play even though Berkley had scored 11 points in the first five minutes.
“We moved the ball better, and we kept the ball in James’s (Young’s) hands,” said Fralick. “(Jeff) Holmes had a really strong game for us. He worked a little harder to get open.”
Suddenly, the Bears surged.
Berkley scored two free throws with 2:33 left, and then got called for goaltending. The Bears followed that up with two inside baskets and a fast-break 3-pointer. Sophomore James Young missed the front end of a one-and-one just before the 3-pointer.
Young followed the 3-pointer, however, with a pair of bonus free throws that made it a five-point cushion.
Berkley drilled a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to cut the deficit to three (after a John Stibich free throw). Troy ran its offense for almost 20 seconds, and Jeff Holmes missed a layup. The Bears quickly gained the rebound and missed a potential game-tying trey at the other end, opening the door for Young to ice the game with a pair of free throws.
Young reeled off a career-high 33 points, always coming up with a key basket to stifle every Bears’ comeback attempt. He scored at least six points in each quarter, hitting three of four from long range in the first half.
“I told him yesterday how proud of him I was that he took over the Rochester Adams game,” said Fralick. “I said to him, ‘You know how good you are, and you know you can take a game over.’”
“He made good decisions with the ball. He showed me that he’s a special player and that he has the type of leadership on the court that he needs to show as a special player.”
Holmes and Stibich each added 16 points for Troy. Al Wise chipped in 11 boards.
Avondale beat Ferndale 63-61 in overtime late Thursday, so the Yellow Jackets and Colts will share the league title. It’s Troy’s first league title since 1994, when Troy split the Southeastern Michigan Association (SMA) title with Berkley and Ferndale in the league’s last year.
Fralick will take it.
“Any time you can win a league championship, you go into the next phase on an emotional high,” he said. “We’ll have confidence, shoot the ball better, and play looser. We won’t be afraid of making mistakes.
“We feel we can beat anybody in that district.”
Troy will join Troy Athens, Avondale, Pontiac, Waterford Mott and Waterford Kettering in the district at Athens.
The Colts will have a third showdown with Athens (9-11, 5-11 OAA White) Monday at 6 p.m., followed by the Avondale-Kettering game at 8 p.m..
Pontiac competed well in the OAA Red this season.
“I’m certainly not happy about the draw; I think we got the toughest draw. But it is what it is,” said Fralick. “We’ve just got to go out and win. We’re going to have to play totally up to our capabilities.”
Troy will head into the postseason on a two-game win streak. The Colts topped Adams 57-52 Tuesday night for the first win of the week.
(Jake Lourim is a sophomore at Troy High School and part of the Student Correspondence Program at www.northoaklandsports.com)
Category: High School, Prep Wraps, Troy
