BOYS BASKETBALL: Lake Orion phases Rochester Adams out of district picture
BY DAN STICKRADTYBY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
LAKE ORION — Much like rival Oxford, Lake Orion has not enjoyed tremendous postseason success when it comes to boys basketball.
So it’s only fitting that Lake Orion has earned a date in this year’s newly-renamed Division 1 — formerly Class A — district finals.
The Dragons earned the right following Wednesday’s convincing 58-42 victory over OAA White Division champion Rochester Adams in the district semifinals.
Lake Orion will face Oxford at 7 p.m. Friday, as both teams eye some rare district championship hardware.
“I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere Friday with Oxford,” offered Lake Orion coach Jim Manzo, who over 13 non-consecutive seasons with the Dragons has never coached a district title team. “They are just down the road, we’re rivals and we don’t end up playing them in the district finals. They are a very good team that beat us earlier in the season. But I feel we’re playing our best basketball of the season right now.”
While Oxford is having a banner season, capturing the OAA Blue Division title behind a 21-1 record, Lake Orion has quietly had a quality season in its own right behind a tough schedule.
The Dragons, which made the quantum leap from the OAA Blue Division to the OAA Red Division this season, have captured only one district title in the past 30 years — and that came in 2012, the year Lake Orion made a surprise run to the state quarterfinals despite an 11-9 regular season record.
“We’ve only won one district) in recent years and you have to go back to the 80s for us to have won one before (2012),” reminded Manzo. “I think with us playing in the OAA Red Division this year has prepared us for this. We’ve seen some pretty good competition this year.”
Two days after Rochester Adams stunned two-time defending state champion Clarkston, 38-37, in the pre-district round, Lake Orion simply shut down and frustrated the Highlanders from the opening tip.
The Dragons jettisoned out to an early 10-2 advantage, led 12-4 at the end of the first quarter and 23-11 at the half.
Lake Orion extended the lead to 36-17 through three quarters of play before cold-shooting Adams closed with a 25-22 edge in the fourth frame.
Lake Orion has won four of its last five games since Manzo inserted junior forward Dylan Boedigheimer into the starting lineup.
“I think in that stretch he’s averaging double digits in rebounds since we moved him in there,” said Manzo. “He gives us another player who is willing to play tough inside and go after rebounds. He has a lot of desire.
“I think desire is why we are playing better,” continued Manzo. “We wrote that on the board before the game and reminded them that in the tournament it’s the team that plays with the most desire that wins games. We’ve seen that lately from them.”
The 6-foot-3 Boedigheimer was one of many Dragons that stood out, as he contributed six points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
“I just try to bring energy, go out there and get rebounds and try to help my team win,” smiled Boedigheimer.
Senior guard Jake Rydquist scored a game-high 17 points with six assists and four rebounds, while 6-9 senior center Nathan Talbot finished with 15 points, 11 in the second half, to go along with five rebounds and four blocks. Junior Andrew Van Heck led the team in floor burns and bruises, — finishing with three points, six rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists for the Dragons.
Lake Orion finished 22-for-45 from the floor (48.9 percent), but more importantly clamped down on the Highlanders’ array of shooters and held them to a season-low shooting night.
“That’s the best defense we’ve played for three quarters all year,” said Manzo of holding Adams to just 17 points through three periods.
Adams shot just 3-for-24 from the floor in the first half and was only 5-for-34 shooting through three quarters of play with two team assists by that point. The 19-point hole was too much to overcome.
“We cut it down to (11) there in the fourth quarter, and we never gave up, we were just down too much,” said Adams coach Brad Brighton. “And we didn’t shoot very well and were just as bad from the free throw line. We picked the wrong time to have our worst game of the season.
““The shooting was bad, but even in the start of the game we made some bad turnovers and never got into the flow offensively and that carried over defensively, too,’’ added Crighton said. “We were doing things that we were working on not doing and it turned into easy points on their end.
“They’re young kids, they have to be ready, it’s win or go home the better team tonight is playing and we’re not,” continued Crighton. “They played well as a team and we didn’t, that’s why we’re done.”
Adams finished just 26 percent from the floor as a team (14-for-54), converted just 42.2 percent of its free throws (8-for-19) and made just 24 percent of its three-pointers (6-for-25). Five of those three-pointers came in the fourth quarter and three came part of an 11-3 run to start the fourth quarter, which trimmed the deficit down to 39-28 with 6:35 to go.
Senior forward Jame Schuler had 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks for Adams (18-4). Freshman guard Gunner Walters added 12 on just 5-for-14 shooting, junior forward James Prieskorn added four points and nine rebounds, while junior forward George Gurraj chipped in with four points and eight rebounds for the Highlanders.
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