Dragons beat Adams in Boys Hoops, Girls Hoops split the week

Written Saturday January 30th, at 7:27 PM

If there was a heartbreaking week for a team with bad luck it sadly has to be the Lake Orion Girls JV Dragons. On Tuesday they lost a heartbreaker 30-29 to Clarkston, and then after having a ten point lead after the first quarter and the lead throughout the game on Friday the Rochester Falcons earned their way to a 30-28 buzzer beating win over the Dragons. Now the JV Dragons are 8-6 overall and 4-4 in the OAA Red heading to a rematch with Pontiac Thursday night at Sy Green Gym at 5:30 PM.

The Dragon freshman girls lost two games in a row this week to both Rochester and to Clarkston. I'm not sure what was the final in the Clarkston game but the final score was 44-12 in the Rochester game on Friday. The freshman girls now stand at 4-9 overall and 2-6 in the OAA Red, travel to play Pontiac at Sy Green Gym at 4 PM Thursday.

The Varsity girls split this week, winning one and then losing a tough one, both games were at home this week. They had a gutsy defensive effort against a defensive juggernaut Clarkston team on Tuesday night at Lake Orion. The Dragons held the Wolves to just ten points at halftime. They were up 12-5 after the first quarter and then 21-10 at half. The Dragons and Wolves both scored six points each in the third quarter, in the score read 27-16 Orion after three quarters. But the fourth quarter belonged to Clarkston, the Wolves outscored the Dragons 16-11, which included two three pointers in the final 40 seconds of the game, but the Dragons held on, winning 38-32 over Clarkston. The Dragons sent the Wolves to 2-9 overall, and 2-5 in the OAA Red after Tuesday night, now the Wolves record is 3-9 overall, 3-5 in the OAA Red thanks to a 50-44 victory at West Bloomfield over the Lakers.

Jackie Hood had 13 points, and barely missed a double-double with nine rebounds, Alexis Haan had 11 points to lead the Dragon charge while Lindsay Reppuhn lead the Wolves with 11 points, and Megan Hastings added nine for the Wolves. The Dragons beleaguered Clarkston star Kaliegh Kenny, who couldn't find a rhythm in the game, Orion limited Kenny to four points total, and kept Kaliegh's little sister Delaney off the scoreboard. The Dragons were 15-24 from the free throw line, but made just enough to hold off a Wolves rally.

The Dragons had another tough game to deal with, but this time it was Rochester. The Falcons beat the Dragons 47-32 earlier in the season, with the refs showing up 45 minutes late to the game. It was a back and fourth see saw between the two teams, Orion lead 12-10 after the first quarter but the Falcons led by Megan Heiden, Hillary Braun, and Ashley Keyes scored 21 points in the second quarter and took a 31-24 lead into the half. The third quarter was a different story, and the Dragons did not back down. The Dragons outscored the Falcons 19-15 in the third quarter but the Falcons still led 46-43 after three quarters.

The Dragons then tied the game on a Maddi Gagen three pointer at 46-46 early in the fourth quarter. However the Falcons went back to their run-and gun offense and put a capping stone over the Dragons. Orion missed some costly free-throws at the end of the game, and during the fourth quarter. Jackie Hood was two for six from the free throw line, she missed two big ones during the fourth quarter and Rochester took advantage with the run and gun offense. The Falcons went on a 14-7 run to close out the game, and escape Lake Orion with a 60-53 victory over the Dragons. After the game Megan Heiden held her shirt high for Rochester screaming at the dejected Orion girls. Hood lead the Dragons with 14 points, Gagen had 13, and Alexis Haan had 12 points for the green and white.

Maybe revenge will come against Rochester likely in districts, if Orion beats Adams, because Rochester has a bye in the first round and will get either Adams or Lake Orion on the Orion court. In my opinion I still don't think Rochester is that good, and their schedule is brutal, at North Farmington and at Lathrup are no easy chores for the Falcons. Orion might have some issues at times when it comes to playing teams with the run and gun offense, and in transition, that's understandable but getting back and playing defense is one of the tough things to do in basketball today, as long you have the work ethic, everything will be fine but it has always been a concern for Orion coach Steve Roberts, and will always be a concern until it gets fixed.

Megan Heiden and Ashley Keyes don't like to do things hard, especially getting back on defense. That also got on the mind of their head coach Adam Sheldon. Sheldon benched Keyes in the second quarter, and then early in the third quarter because of her work ethic. He also benched Heiden as well during the game for her work ethic, especially in the second quarter.Rochester is no Michelangelo team but if they want a long playoff run they need Keyes, and Heiden to be at their best and not lazy, like they were at times Friday night against Orion.

Anyway back to Orion, the Dragons now stand at 9-5 overall and 3-5 in the OAA Red, they now will try and get a little bit of revenge back against Pontiac on Thursday night, at Sy Green Gym, tip off is set for 7 PM. The Phoenix come in 5-7 overall but 5-3 in the OAA Red. They come into play against the Dragons, finishing a three game home stand, beating Rochester on Tuesday night 62-48, however the Phoenix fell at Sy Green Gym 47-37 to Troy on Friday night.

The Orion boys just had one game this week, but it was a big one. It was against Rochester Adams for a tie for second place in the OAA White. Adams came in 7-3 overall, and 4-1 in the OAA White, however it was a shooting nightmare for the Highlanders off the bat, once they entered the greenhouse.

Adams just coming off a 62-44 win over crosstown rival Rochester at Oakland University in "The Crosstown Showdown" last Friday could not find the rim, and were either missing shots, shooting air-balls, or turning the ball over, credit the Dragons defense. The Dragons also took advantage of those Adams turnovers by converting easy baskets for points. The first quarter was a nightmare for Adams fans to see as the Dragons took a 10-0 lead for most of the first quarter, until Adams scored their first point with 1:42 remaining in the first on a free throw by Conner Boyle. The second quarter didn't get any better for Adams either. The Dragons outscored Adams 13-9, and took a shocking 23-12 lead at the half.

Adams took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Dragons 16-13 in the third quarter, however the Dragons still led after three quarters 36-28. The fourth quarter the Dragons weren't to be denied the upset, they held Adams to just ten points behind a smothering defense, while the Dragons scored 11 points to seal the 47-38 upset of Adams. Alex Mayo added 19 points, and Derek Schrauben added 10 points for the Dragons to seal the upset. The Dragons also took power forward Andrew Hammett out of his game, Hammett had 21 points in the win against Rochester only had three points in the game. Conner Boyle led Adams with 16 points, and is Adams leading scorer averaging 13 points per game.

The Varsity Boys are now 7-5 overall and 4-2 in the OAA White, just a game and a half behind unbeaten Seaholm in the OAA White, now they have a tough one against Troy on Tuesday, and then Berkley on Friday, both games will be on the road for the Dragons, and the team hasn't been that good on the road this season. The Colts come in 4-7 overall, and 2-4 in the OAA White, so it will be a good match up against the Colts. The Bears come in also 2-4 in the OAA White but 5-5 overall. The Dragons did have a 59-50 win over Berkley the last time they met at Lake Orion.

The JV Dragons Boys had a good week against Adams, thanks in all part to Jacob Gardner. Gardener was the quarterback of this years Lake Orion JV Football team when they got smoked 35-14 to Adams. He had 26 points including some tough three pointers. The Dragons trailed by seven points at one points, only were down 12-5 after the first quarter, and then went nuts in the second quarter, outscoring the Highlanders 26-14, to take a 31-26 lead at the half. From then on the Dragons cruised to a 63-46 win over Adams sending them to 11-1 overall and still unbeaten in the OAA White at 6-0. Their next game is against Troy on Tuesday and then Berkley on Friday, both on the road.

The Freshman Dragons Boys played Adams, and had another good victory over the Highlanders. The Dragons behind Chaz Miller and Derrick DeLaura went on to a 60-31 victory over Adams. The Freshman Boys now have two home games, against Troy on Tuesday and Berkley on Friday, they are now 10-1 overall and unbeaten in OAA White play at 5-0.