BOYS BASKETBALL: Oakland Christian rolls into Sweet 16 with rout of Peck
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
AUBURN HILLS — Dennis Hopkins made a deal with his basketball players last week. Win a district and you won’t have to work a regional game this season.
The players on Auburn Hills Oakland Christian’s roster have taken their coach’s bargaining chip to heart.
Oakland Christian captured a Division 4 district crown last week and advanced to the regional finals with a convincing 62-34 victory Tuesday over visiting Peck in a regional semifinal on the Lancers’ home floor.
“I told them that if we didn’t win the district last week that they would all have to work the regionals because we hosted both,” said Hopkins, in his 15th season with Oakland Christian. “As it turns out, we’re still playing.”
Oakland Christian, which played a brutally-tough schedule and entered the postseason with just a 9-11 record, was dominant on both end of the floor Tuesday in downing the North Central Thumb League champion Pirates (16-7).
Oakland Christian never trailed in the game, opening with an 11-3 run and led 16-11 after the first quarter. The Lancers went on an 8-0 run to start the second quarter to open up a commanding 24-11 advantage with 6:18 to go in the second quarter.
Peck never seriously threatened, and got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way. The Pirates’ Zac Dudley hit a floater in the lane to trim the deficit to 24-13 with 4:08 in the second period. Oakland Christian closed the frame with a 5-2 spurt for a 29-15 halftime lead.
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian senior guard Kyle Barca and the Lancers cruised past Peck 62-34 in Tuesday’s Division 1 regional semifinals. Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com
The Lancers continued to pour it on in the third quarter with a 12-7 run, good for a 41-22 lead entering the fourth stanza. Oakland Christian closed with a 21-12 run despite going deep into its bench down the stretch.
“We’re playing better lately,” said Hopkins. “We went into a little bit of a lull in the middle of the season. But I think we are playing some of our best basketball of the season. We had our ups-and-downs earlier.”
Sophomore guard Lake Patterson scored a career-high 27 points on the strength of 11-for-14 shooting from the floor and added seven rebounds and two steals for Oakland Christian. Patterson converted his first four shots and made 4-of-6 three-pointers in the contest.
Senior guard Kyle Barba had a fine floor game with four points, a game-high 10 assists, three rebounds and two steals for good measure. Senior forward Luke Isham scored 10 points, sophomore guard Daniel Siminski added nine points, four rebounds and three assists, and senior forward Jake Youngblood followed with eight points and four rebounds for the Lancers.
“We need for Kyle Barba to have the ball in his hands. He is a really good passer and creates a lot of shots for his teammates,” said Hopkins.
“This was one of Lake’s better games. He’s a scorer and wasn’t shy on shooting tonight,” added Hopkins.
Oakland Christian finished the night shooting 22-for-45 from the floor (48.9 percent), 8-for-13 from the foul line (62 percent) and 10-for-21 from three-point range (47.7 percent). The Lancers also held a 29-20 rebounding edge and recorded 15 assists on 22 baskets.
Peck was left reeling from the opening tip and did not play like a team that won a conference championship in the regular season.
“We normally play good defense, play with good help-side defense,” sighed Peck coach Jeremy Abrego. “But with everyone shooting so well for them, we never had a chance. They came out and started hitting from the start. We fell into a big hole and never recovered.”
Dudley, a senior guard, scored a team-high 23 points for Peck, sinking 5-of-11 three-pointers with four rebounds. Five other teammates combined for 11 points for the Pirates.
Peck was forced into 12 turnovers and was held to 29 percent shooting (11-for-39) and 27.8 percent from three-point range (5-for-18).
Oakland Christian advances to the regional finals Thursday for the first time since 2013 and will face the winner of the Burton Genesee Christian-Marine City Cardinal Mooney regional semifinal.
Category: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Basketball, Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Most Recently Updated Stories, NOS reference, Prep Wraps, Sport, Top Stories, Uncategorized
