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Instant Scoop: Leonard sparks Troy past Adams for OAA-White title

Dan Stickradt | March 2, 2012 | Comments (1)

BY JAKE LOURIM

STUDENT CORRESPONDENT

ROCHESTER HILLS — Rochester Adams was focused on one thing headed into Thursday’s league title matchup against Troy: Stopping James Young.

That would be the recipe in allowing Adams to gain a share of the OAA White Division boys basketball title with Troy and Ferndale.

But Troy junior Joe Leonard proved that he can shoot the basketball, too.

Leonard connected on a career-high six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points in leading Troy to a 54-51 victory over the host Highlanders, giving the Colts the league title and eliminating the Highlanders from gaining a piece of the pie.

“I just had to calm down and find my shot,” Leonard said. “In the first half, I was rushing it a little bit and getting frustrated. I just had to let the game come to me.”

Leonard caught fire in the second half, going 6-for-9 from 3-point range. He sparked a Troy offense that went into halftime tied at 17-17.

Both teams came out firing from 3-point land in the second half, combining for 17-for-27. It was nip-and-tuck the whole way, but Troy ended up leading 52-51 with under a minute left.

Settling into a spread offense, point guard Zak Noor calmly dished down to the base line to senior forward Jeff Holmes. Holmes went up strong and kissed it off the glass to give Troy a 3-point lead with 34 seconds left.

Still with four fouls to give, Troy made it inside the ten-second mark without Adams getting a shot off. When the Highlanders did, it was the center from the corner for 3. He missed short, Young got the rebound, and it was time to party after a second straight league championship.

Only this time, the Colts have it all by themselves.

Young was also clutch down the stretch, grabbing the game-clinching rebound, and threw the ball up in the air at the buzzer. He finished with 17 points and nine rebounds despite several double-team situations.

Jeff Holmes’s basket with 34 seconds left put Troy up by three — and that made Adams shoot a 3-pointer on its last possession. With the fouls to give, the Highlanders only got one chance.

It has a lot to do with the fact that we’ve won a lot of games over the last four, five, six weeks,” Troy coach Gary Fralick said. “The harder we play, good things will happen.”

On Young: “He’s like an ice man when he gets the ball in his hands down the stretch,” Fralick added. “He has no fear. He doesn’t think of anything but positive things.”

On the deliberate style to start the game: “It was a little hard to get used to,” Holmes said, “but we still hung in there and stayed in there on defense and didn’t fall asleep.”

Troy clinches its first outright league title in at 20 years. The Colts (15-5, 9-1 OAA White) split the crown with Auburn Hills Avondale last year, but they’ll finish one game ahead of Ferndale (8-2 White) and two ahead of Adams (7-3).

James Berger scored 17, canning five 3-pointers, while Akhemji Williams scored 15for Adams, sinking four three-pointers for the Highlanders. Zack Littleson chipped in with 13 points for Adams.

That’ll put the Colts on a positive note heading into next week’s Class A district tournament. Troy takes on Waterford Kettering (3-17) Monday at Troy Athens, followed by a rematch date with Pontiac Wednesday if it gets past Kettering.

Pontiac ousted Troy 58-53 last year.