BOYS BASKETBALL: Rochester Hills Christian remains perfect in bouncing Lake Orion Baptist
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
LAKE ORION — Lake Orion Baptist had a simple plan Tuesday: Put a box-and-one on Rochester Hills Christian senior standout Ryan Patton and make other players beat the Lions.
The problem is that Rochester Hills Christian is far from a one-man show and the Eagles displayed a lethal eight-man rotation against host Lake Orion Baptist.
RHC came away with an 83-36 drubbing in Fundamental Baptist Athletic Conference Red Division play for its third win in five days.
“They have a lot of shooters,” sighed first-year Lake Orion Baptist coach Tom Rowe. “We tried the box-and-one on Patton the whole game. They still have guys that can shoot it. It seemed like they couldn’t miss in the first half.”
While Patton, Oakland County’s leading the scorer this season at 35.5 points an outing, still scored 31 points on the strength of five three-pointers, his teammates joined in on the stat sheet in a multitude of ways. The Eagles finished 35-for-72 from the field (48.7 percent), had six players score at least eight points, swiped 17 passes and out-rebounded the Lions by a 48-25 count in the victory.
“We have so many guys that contribute,” offered Rochester hills christian coach Jon Bronsing. “We have a system and the guys we have always work hard. They enjoy playing with each other and it shows. Ryan might be our go-to guy, but anyone that watches us play knows we have a lot of guys who can score.”
The win moved Rochester Hills to a perfect 16-0 on the year and 6-0 in conference play. It is the school’s best start since the 2011-12 campaign, where RHC started that campaign 17-0 and finished 25-2.
Patton added 15 rebounds, six steals, five assists and three blocks shots in a well-rounded game for the Eagles. Freshman forward Kaloh Holmes added 11 points and five rebounds, senior forward Javon Smither also had 11 points and five boards, junior center Noah Bosner scored eight with eight rebounds, freshman guard Adam Patton contributed eight points and three steals and junior guard Lucas Byers had a fine floor game with four points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Rochester Hills Christian.
The Eagles, who are gunning for at least a share of their fifth straight FBAC-Red crown, quickly built a 22-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. The advantage ballooned to 40-18 at the half and the game was never in doubt.
RHC came out and swished 8-of-15 three-point attempts in the first half in building its 22-point halftime advantage. Patton dialed long distance three times in the first quarter alone, including a fade-away three at the buzzer of the first quarter to help set the tone.
The Eagles finished the night 9-for-24 from outside the three-point arc (37.5 percent).
“We usually shoot the three-ball well. There was only two games this season where we didn’t shoot the three well and one of those games was Monday night,” said Bronsing. “We were 0-for-18 against (Davison Faith Baptist) and still found a way to win. When we shoot well we’re hard to beat.”
Senior guard Scott Streetman scored 16 points for Lake Orion Baptist (2-9, 1-6). Sophomore guard Mike Slezak added five points and senior center Bryan Dewar chipped in with nine rebounds for the Lions, who turned the ball over 19 times against the Eagles’ pesky relentless defense.
“We hope to be there in the future. We will be,” said Rowe of his team’s prospects in future seasons. “We’re still a young team — not a lot of seniors.”
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