Superhuman for a night: Lake Orion Baptist’s Watterworth scores 51 with 34 boards in upset victory

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

LAKE ORION — Breanne Watterworth said she didn’t eat her Wheaties on Tuesday morning. In fact, she doesn’t even like the cereal.

She didn’t do anything of super-relative nature during the day, either, except go to class and study for a large science project due Wednesday morning.

UP FOR TWO: Lake Orion Baptist sophomore Breanne Watterworth set single-game school records for points (51), rebounds (34) and field goals made (24) in the Lions' 62-51 upset of Midland Calvary Baptist Tuesday night. Courtesy Photo | John Brundage, Brundage Photography

On the basketball court, the sophomore center from Lake Orion Baptist definitely played with the strength of the Lord and something of Superwoman status.

Watterworth, a 6-foot-2 post player, shattered the school’s single-game scoring record along with setting several other school and conference records, in leading the Lions to a 62-51 upset of visiting Midland Calvary Baptist in the final girls basketball game of the regular season for both teams.

Watterworth, who missed most of her freshman season with a broken wrist, finished with 51 points, 34 rebounds and eight blocked shots, while converting over 60 percent of her field goal attempts. She added three assists for good measure.

“My teammates played really hard and did a great job of passing me the ball,” said Watterworth. “I knew I was scoring a lot, but didn’t know I had that many points or rebounds until afterwards. I was just hitting my lay-ups and jumpers. Everything was just going in. We even scored a couple on fast breaks.”

Senior forward Jill Streetman added nine points and 10 rebounds for the Lions (4-10), who will face second-ranked Rochester Hills Christian in a second-round sectional game in the Michigan Association of Christian Schools Division I state tournament Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Clarkston Springfield Christian.

This night belonged to Watterworth, whose totals are also believed to be a conference record for the Fundamental Baptist Athletic Conference Red Division. Her totals for points, rebounds, field-goals made and field-goal-percentage in a single-contest are some of the highest totals in Oakland County history.

The younger sister of current Oakland University starter Bethany Watterworth, who led Lake Orion High School to the 2009 Class A Final Four and is an All-Summit League player in college, this Watterworth, the youngest of seven siblings, had her one shining moment in the sun.

Watterworth, who came in averaging 19 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocked shots an outing, converted 24 field goals, another school record, and made 3-of-6 free throws in the win. A total of 48 of her points came from the floor.

Watterworth held the previous school record for 22 rebounds set earlier in the year and had a previous career-best of 28 points in a contest last month, believed to be the previous second-best in school history.

She already owns the single-game school mark with 12 blocks in a game.

“I have never seen anything like it,” said Janet Noruk, who started the Lions’ girls basketball program in 2002-03 and grew up playing prep basketball in Texas. “How often does a girl score over 50 points in a game or how often does a girl grab over 30 rebounds? These have to be some records for schools in our league. I know they are, bar far, records for our school.”

The all-time state scoring mark for points in a game for all schools is by Danielle Bishop, who scored 72 points in a contest in 2003 for Laingsburg Christian before playing at the University of Toledo.

“I’m hoping she can do it again in the (state) tournament,” said Noruk, whose team has suffered several close losses. “We’ll need it against Rochester Hills, for sure, because they are a really good team.

“Our whole team played well against Calvary,” added Noruk, who noted the 62 points is one of the highest team totals in the 10-year history of the school. “It wasn’t just Breanne. We did a nice job as a team. This was one of our best games overall.”

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Tags: Athlete of the Week, Basketball, FBAC Girls Basketball, featured, girls basketball, high school basketball, Lake Orion Baptist Girls Basketball, Michigan Association of Christian Schools Girls Basketball, Midland Calvary Baptist Girls Basketball, prep girls basketball

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