Boys and Girls Hoops split this week

Written Sunday January 17th, at 1:50 PM

The Dragons Den would like to Congratulate the Dallas Stars huge win over the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout Saturday Afternoon in Texas.

Anyway it feels great after watching both Scripps and Waldon compete for the future of Lake Orion Athletics, I guess it's time to get back to the high school level basketball, meaning league play for both teams. This week in Dragon Hoops both the Lake Orion Boys and Girls Basketball teams split their weekly opponents by going 1-1 each. The Dragon boys won at Farmington Hills Harrison (53-46)on Tuesday. however the boys fell at Birmingham Seaholm (62-54) Friday night. The Dragon girls had to go through an overtime Tuesday night against Troy at the Green House (52-43), then the ladies lost a tough one at Oakland Activities Association Red leading North Farmington (misleading 57-45) Friday night.

The boys had a tough win down at Farmington Hills Harrison on Tuesday night. The Hawks are no push over, they will be a force in the Oakland Activities Association Blue Division all season long as they go up against teams like Bloomfield Hills Lahser, the team picked to win the OAA Blue. The Hawks even though haven't played as tough a schedule as Orion has had to go through with Avondale, Southfield, and Hartland, but the Hawks have played their fair share of good teams, in Redford Thurston, North Farmington, and also Troy during the season. It was a good win for Orion as surpassed their win total from last season (4-17 in 2008-2009) and took the momentum from their winning into Birmingham Friday night to play the Maples of Birmingham Seaholm.

Seaholm wasn't so good for the Dragons. The Dragons did fall 62-54 Friday night, but there were many positives, the Dragons held Florida International recruit Richaud Pack to just 9 points, however 17 of those points came at the free-throw line. Pack ended up with 26 points and their center Shawn Connolly 24 points for the Maples. However for Seaholm the schedule doesn't get easy for them, they have to play nine of their next 11 games on the road, including a trip to Orion on February 16th. Seaholm has not been as good on the road, as they are on home, despite they are still unbeaten. So far that 20-0 projection Pack and Connolly said is right now true but that will be severely tested with this tough stretch coming up.

The boys are now 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the OAA White. Their next game on the slate and try to bounce back from is Tuesday night when the boys travel in a hostile environment at Stoney Creek. Stoney Creek's fan base is known as "The Core" so that will be interesting. The Cougars are coming in 7-1 overall and is 2-1 in OAA White play, with their only loss being at home to Adams. SC is also an experienced team as the Dragons are. SC is also very gritty as well, and hard working. Expect a tough one down there. Then on Friday the Dragons return home for a game against the Red Hawks of Troy Athens. The Red Hawks come in at 3-5 overall and 1-2 in OAA Red League play. The Red Hawks also took down Adams from the ranks of the unbeaten 54-53 at Adams, so they won't be intimated coming into Orion.

The Junior Varsity won both their contests this week at Harrison and also a 22 point win against Birmingham Seaholm. The Dragons JV is now 8-1 overall and unbeaten in OAA White play, heading into the Stoney Creek and Troy Athens games. The freshman had a scheduling conflict with Harrison, so a make-up date hasn't been announced, so they ended up taking their frustrations on Seaholm at home. The freshman is now 7-1 overall and unbeaten as well in OAA league play heading to Stoney Creek and Troy Athens.

The Orion girls have been flirting with 500 for the last two weeks since we got back from Christmas Break with a win then a loss. This week the Dragons survived Troy 55-46 in overtime, but the problem with this team has been the starts. In three of their four losses (Rochester, Pontiac, and Southfield-Lathrup) the Dragons have not been able to get off to a good start and the bad starts has cost them some games. Against Troy it was the same thing, the Dragons didn't get off to a good start, and were trailing early, however the Dragons fought back slowly as they did, and caught even with Troy in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was back and fourth, then Troy took a 45-43 lead until two free throws by Jackie Hood tied the game and forced overtime tied at 45-45. The Dragons went on an 11-1 run to close out the overtime and win the game.

The girls on Friday traveled to North Farmington for a showdown with the league-leading North Farmington Raiders. The Dragons had a good start, but the Raiders hung in there step-by step, leading Orion 15-11 after the first quarter. The Raiders then controlled the tempo, outscoring the Dragons 16-8 in the quarter, the run also included a buzzer beating three pointer by Oakland University recruit Jenna Bachrouche, she gave the Raiders a 31-19 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was a different story, the Dragons controlled the tempo with their quick strike offense and great defense against the big three and the Raiders. They went on a 9-0 run, cutting North Farmington's lead to 31-28 with two minutes left in third quarter, however a late run by North Farmington gave them a 43-34 lead after three quarters.

The fourth quarter had it all but one play changed the entire game for both teams. The Dragons were coming close yet again to the Raiders. Orion went on a quick 6-1 run to cut the Raiders lead to 44-40, however there was a foul against Alexis Haan, the Dragons center. However the lady ref gave Haan a technical foul, which resulted in her fifth foul. After the technical, the Raiders went on a 13-5 run to close out the game and give North Farmington the 57-45 win over Orion. If the lady ref didn't call the technical then the game would have been a lot closer, or even we would have been calling an upset in Farmington Hills.

The girls now are 6-4 overall and 1-4 in OAA Red play. This week the Dragon ladies go out of league play and play yet another OAA White division team in Southfield. The Blue Jays come in at 5-5 overall and 2-3 in the OAA White. The Dragons are 3-0 this season against the OAA White with wins over Avondale, Adams, and Stoney Creek. Then the girls return back to league play on Thursday at West Bloomfield for a contest against the Lakers. The Lakers come into this game at 4-6 overall, and 2-3 in the OAA Red, so this is a big game for the Dragons and also the Lakers. Thursday will also be the Dragons seventh road game in the 12 games they have played this season, so it's been a brutal schedule for the Orion Ladies.

The Junior Varsity went 1-1 for the week, the JV played Troy tough in the first half, tied at 11-11, however a 22-4 in the third quarter by the Colts gave them a 40-20 win over the Dragons on Tuesday night. Friday's game against North Farmington was very different and very exciting from start to finish. The Dragons played well early, outscoring the Raiders 18-4 after the first quarter, then the fun began.

The Raiders outscored the Dragons in the second quarter, basically doing a 360, outscoring the Dragons 15-8 in the process for a 26-19 Orion lead at the half. The game was tight throughout, but the lead never changed hands, even though there were times that the lead should have changed hands but the Dragons survived a scare winning 41-39. The Junior Varsity Dragons now stand at 6-4 and 3-2 in the OAA Red with games against Southfield and West Bloomfield looming for the week. The Freshman ladies also went 1-1, they fell to Troy down at Troy, but got a huge win at home over North Farmington 21-17. The freshman ladies are now 3-6 overall and 1-4 in OAA Red play with also the same games against Southfield and West Bloomfield looming for the Dragons.

This week should be interesting, let the fun begin so GO GREEN.