Oakland Christian bounces Parkway to reach regional finals
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Auburn Hills Oakland Christian is proving to be anything but a one-trick pony. That is one of the key ingredients for the Lancers still being alive in the Class D boys basketball state tournament.
OPEN ROAD: Auburn Hills Oakland christian junior guard Drew Perrin and the Lancers have cruised into the Class D Sweet 16 with four straight double-digit wins. Oakland Christian will play Wednesday for the school's third-ever regional championship. File Photo |Dan Stickradt
Oakland Christian’s balance has led them to another berth in the Class D regional finals, the school’s fifth in the past decade.
Oakland Christian led the whole way Monday night at Birmingham Roeper, topping Sterling Heights Parkway Christian, 54-37, for the third time this season in aregional semifinal.
The Lancers will take on Detroit Westside Christian at 7 p.m. Wednesday for the regional championship. Westside cruised past host Roeper 50-32 in the other semifinal Roeper’s Bloomfield Hills campus.
Josh Peterson, a 6-foot-6 junior center, led Oakland Christian (22-1) with a game-high 16 points. Juniors Drew Perrin and Charles Hayden followed with 12 points each for the Lancers.
“Josh has been playing really well lately,” said sixth-year head coach Dennis Hopkins. “This is the second straight game he’s scored 16 for us. The game before that against (Clarkston) Everest (Collegiate) he only scored four. Nathan Piasecki scored 18 in that game, but he was not one of our leaders the past two games.
“That’s what I like about us … we have a lot of guys that can score,” continued Hopkins. “When we reached the regionals finals and won it (in 2008), we had mainly two guys that would score. When they didn’t we usually struggled. That’s not the case with this team. We’ve had several different guys lead us in scoring this season. We had eight guys play tonight and seven scored.”
Although Oakland Christian has lost in the regional finals several times in the past two decades, the Lancers will try to win the school’s third overall regional crown Wednesday.
“The team we’re playing has some good players,” said Hopkins.”We have a lot of film to watch. They are athletic with some (size).”
Oakland Christian led just 13-10 after the first quarter before breaking the game open with a 21-16 run in the second quarter for a 34-16 lead at the half.
Parkway edged the Lancers 21-20 in the second half, but the game was never in doubt as Oakland Christian pulled off three wins this season over the Crusaders.
Kenny Dalen scored 12 and Chris Boyd added 10 points for Parkway Christian (10-12).
“I thought the second quarter was the difference,” said Hopkins.”We got on a little bit of a run, played some solid defense and gave ourselves a pretty big lead at the half.”
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