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Back again: Our Lady of the Lakes downs St. Patrick to gain third straight finals berth

Dan Stickradt | March 15, 2012 | Comments (5)

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

EAST LANSING — Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes received a scare Thursday evening. Yet it was the Lakers’ defensive schemes that proved to be the fright of the night.

Locked in a three-point game with7:17 to go, the seventh-ranked Lakes went on a 13-0 run, aided by seven turnovers and nine points off those turnovers, to turn an 34-31 advantage into a 49-34 rout with 3:51 to play. WOLL went on to capture a 54-44 triumph over unranked Portland St. Patrick in Thursday’s Class D semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

GIVING IT THEIR ALL: Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes senior Tori Duffey (bottom) dives for the ball alongside Portland St. Patrick' s Katie Cook during Thursday's Class D state semifinal. Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com

Lakes (22-4) will play for its third straight Class D state championship when it faces unranked Athens at 10 a.m. Saturday, also at the Breslin Center. Athens defeated Crystal Falls Forest Park, 61-48, in the second semifinal.

“We feel that we are talented enough to do that, come together as a team and play defense like that,” said Lakes senior Tori Duffey, who is a transfer from Walled Lake Central and was not part of the Lakers’ last two runs. “We knew we had to step up (when the game was close).”

WOLL Led 17-10 after the first quarter and held a 24-20 lead at the half.

St. Patrick started the season 7-5, but turned the tables by winning 12 of its last 14 ball games. The Shamrocks did not go away quietly, fighting for an 11-10 third quarter.

At one point of the third, the Shamrocks closed to within 33-31 with 1:19 left in the frame, but could get no closer.

“I felt in the fourth quarter we started to go all the way up the floor with that tempo and that ball pressure really turned it for us,” said Lakes coach Steve Robak. “We told them that we don’t need steals, but we just need tonpressure on the ball. We felt we had an advantage with our defensive pressure and I think we kind of saw it in that little spurt.

“We had told the girls that we planned on doing (the press) at some point, but for whatever the reason we felt that was the time to go to it. We felt that we needed to change the tempo of the game. We had to change it up because they don’t make a lot of mistakes in the half court (offense).”

Senior guard Carlee Cottrell spearheaded the Lakers on both ends of the floor, scoring a game-high 17 points with five assists, five rebounds and two steals, as Lakes forced 20 turnovers. Junior guard Ava Doetsch added 14 points, six boards, four assists and three steals, while junior forward Lexie Robak supplied eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Overall, Lakes held a 20-13 edge in the fourth quarter to advance to the final day for the third straight season, but the first time for Duffey.

“This is just incredible,” added Duffey. “I owe this all to my team. Coming in as a new player, you have to find your niche, find your (spot), but this team (welcomed) me in and it’s been a great experience.”

Portland St. Patrick was making its 12^th state semifinals appearance in 18 years, although the Shamrocks had not been this far since the fall 2006 season. None of the current Shamrocks had been this far in the postseason.

Still, veteran coach Al Schrauben felt his team wasn’t at a disadvantage playing against the two time defending champions.

“I thought we had a great chance. We cut the lead to two points in the third quarter,” said Schrauben. “But then they put on (that press) and made their run and that was the difference.”

St. Patrick sent nine of 12 players into the scoring s column, led by seven points each by Tori Goodrich and Courtney Dixon. Riley Smith and Elle Lehman chipped in with six points apiece and Stephanie Miros and Anna Bosworth scored five each for the taller Shamrocks, who held a 36-34 edge on the boards and forced Lakes into an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers.

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