BOYS BASKETBALL: Adams pulls away from offensively-challenged Rochester
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BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — The odds were stacked against Rochester Adams Friday night. After all, the Highlanders were missing their star player and having to play an arch-rival in the process.
Rest assured, Adams made quite a statement at the eighth-annual Crosstown Showdown, pulling away from offensively-challenged Rochester, 55-34, in front of a near-packed house at Oakland University’s O’rena in OAA Red Division boys basketball play.
With fourth-year starting guard Akhemji Williams serving the second of a four-game suspension, the Highlanders banded together and showcased some depth and fine team play to pull away from the struggling Falcons.
Adams led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter and 27-20 at the half, but Rochester kept hanging around with some fine interior play and a 13-4 rebounding edge in the first half.
The second half belonged to the Highlanders.
WITH FORCE: Rochester Adams’ Adam Slating goes to the hoop against Rochester’s Maliva Likine during Friday’s Crosstown Showdown at Oakland University. Photo | Dan Stickradt
“I thought we came out with a lot more energy in the second half,” offered Adams coach John Hall. “We didn’t really make adjustments. We just started to do some of the things we had needed to do from the very beginning. I thought we were really aggressive. Defensively, we took them out of their sets. We did not give up any easy points in the second half.”
Adams (6-2, 3-1), which struggled in its first game without Williams on Tuesday in a loss to league-leading Clarkston, outscored Rochester (3-5, 1-3) 12-6 in the third quarter. In fact, when Rochester’s Michael Halsey hit a long jumper with 2:35 left in the third quarter that brought the Falcons to within 34-26, Rochester did not convert another field goal the rest of the night.
The Falcons went 0-for-9 from the field after that point and made just 8-of-12 free throws during the fourth quarter, where Adams blew the door open with a 16-8 game-closing run.
“I think we’re a pretty good team, with or without Akhemji,” beamed Hall.
Senior Cameron Flynn scored 11 after going 3-of-4 from the floor with two triples, while junior Jordan Wiley added 10 points for the Highlanders, who made 22-of-51 shots from the floor (43.2 percent). Cole Davis and Spencer Littleson added eight points apiece for Adams, which sank 7-of-17 three-pointers (41.2 percent).
HIGH ABOVE: Rochester Adams’ Spencer Littleson puts up this short-range jumper above Rochester’s Terron Dumars (No. 32) and Mike Murri (No. 2). Photo | Dan Stickradt
“We had a little bit more time to prepare (against Rochester), but more importantly, we were able to focus in practice for two days on getting the kids to believe they could play without him,” continued Hall explained. “We’ve got a good basketball team. We can be good with or without him.”
Senior Terron Dumars scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half for Rochester, which shot just 30.3 percent from the floor (10-for-33) with 21 turnovers.
The Falcons only have four returnees that saw significant minutes from last year’s team that reached the Class A state quarterfinals and two players from the 2012 squad that went on a 20-game win streak. The lack of a go-to player has hurt Rochester in several games this season.
Anthony Williams, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Maryland, added seven points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Rochester, which held a 25-17 edge on the boards.
“We’re not going to score a lot of points,” sighed Rochester coach John Pleasant. “We’ve got to defend better. In the first half, (Adams) had 27 points and I felt like two-thirds of them came off wide-open shots. We were still in the game for a while they, keeping it to within six to 10 points. If we could have made some baskets and cut it down to within 5-6 points by midway in the fourth quarter, we might have had a chance. But we couldn’t make anything and Adams just pulled away (down the stretch).”
ON THE MOVE: Rochester’s Mike Murri drives around Rochester Adams’ Thomas Girdler during Friday’s OAA Red Division clash. Photo | Dan stickradt
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FOR MORE BASKETBALL COVERAGE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Basketball&x=13&y=12
Have photos or video of this event that you wish to share? E-mail pertinent information to www.northoaklandsports.com Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com.
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