Dragons Winter Sports Personal Thoughts

Written Wednesday December 25th, at 1:30 PM

Well I like to wish you all a special Merry Christmas here. So far I look at both the Dragons Basketball teams both teams are right where I think they are early in the season. So here are my thoughts on the teams.

Girls:

When I look at the Girls this season this team has expectations to rise up in the season. Last season the Dragons were winless heading into the Christmas Break, so that’s a step in the right direction. Currently the ladies stand 3-3 and 0-2 in the White. The girls started the season with wins over Lapeer East, Brandon, and West Bloomfield. It has been a tough three games for them lately as they have losses to teams (Clarkston, Bloomfield Hills, and Troy) whom have a combined 18-3 and have lost by a combined 22 points.

The Dragons have struggled keeping leads in the third quarter which has been bothering coach Steve Roberts. They have had halftime leads in two of the three games they have lost. The inside post game has been a disaster for them, especially in the three losses where they have struggled to get points inside the paint. Also the defense in the second half has been soft and sometimes lazy. This is something that this team needs to correct if they want to have a good season.

Also another problem is where the killer is instinct on this team. It is clearly shown that this core group does not have a killer instinct. Sure they are young but that’s not an excuse. Where is that killer instinct especially in the last two games in the second half? You got to put youth and inexperience aside and show your stuff. It’s time to show it, in more words it’s put up or shut up time and that’s something that this team has to show.

The Girls will have plenty of time to address the issues between now and Farmington on January 3^rd. The schedule will get much tougher from here, as they will see Bloomfield Hills and Troy again along with Adams, Oxford, Rochester all twice along with Royal Oak whom is not bad either.

Boys:

When I see the Boys they aren’t the same team without John McCarty but this team might have to get use to playing without him. The current indications are that he may be lost for the season with a hip injury. This team does have the pieces to compete but the problem is can they do it on a consistent basis and against good teams without McCarty.

The Dragons currently sit at 2-1 and 1-0 in the White. Lake Orion lost a heart breaker to Pontiac but they had opportunities to win that game. They struggled to beat Oxford on the road, even though Oxford is a hostile environment. Lake Orion also had to comeback to beat Groves in overtime and the Falcons were projected to finish last in the White this season.

The biggest problem that coach Tom Risi’s team has had been the third quarter like the Girls, they let teams get back in the game and eventually take the lead on them before coming back. If they were playing a good team then this would be a huge problem. All three games have proven that point, the Dragons allowed a 14-0 run in the third quarter against Pontiac. Oxford outscored the Dragons 16-7 in the third quarter before Lake Orion came back and won that game. The Dragons trailed Groves by 12 at one point in the third quarter despite horrible officiating in that game to win that one but that game should had never went overtime.

Another problem and this has been a huge problem even before Risi coached in Varsity is that this team has played to the level to their competition, which is a huge no-no. This has been a huge problem in getting up for games. Players get up for games against Romeo, Clarkston, Oxford, Adams, Seaholm, Troy, Troy Athens, Oak Park etc but to play Groves, Avondale, West Bloomfield, Pontiac and take them lightly then that’s a problem. If you want to be a champion you got to get up for each game and do whatever it takes to win. This team has had some issues doing that and that’s not a coaching problem, that’s a player mindset problem.

Lake Orion has a murders row schedule when they get back from break as they travel to Romeo on January 3rd and then have a long four game road trip with games at Seaholm, Oak Park, Avondale, and Clarkston while they will host Adams and Troy. This will certainly test the Dragons chemistry and how much they have learned without McCarty.

Hockey:

My thoughts on Hockey are that the Dragons have had a nice bounce back season after a disappointing 2012-2013 season last season. Lake Orion currently stands 8-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Red. My personal thoughts are is can this team go far and get the right draw in the pre-districts round. If they do get the right draw then it is possible that a trip to Compuware Ice Arena in Plymouth is possible for Lake Orion this season.

The Dragons are currently fifth in the state, which is something where Coach Nick Field has them so far in the season. They have beaten some really good teams like Grand Blanc and won the Traverse City Invite. The Hockey team’s only defeat came at Hartland but have ever since had a nice winning streak heading into the break.

Wrestling:

The Dragons wrestling team did not have a good Oakland County meet as a team as they finished 17^th but they had some strong individual results in that meet. The invitational tournaments have also been kind to them this season as Lake Orion finished second at the Romeo Invitational and the Junior Varsity team has had some great performances at Yale. As a team the wrestlers have struggled losing matches to Stoney Creek and powerhouses Hartland and Howell. In a league with Clarkston, Oxford, Adams, and Rochester it will be a tough go this season for them.

Skiing:

The season hasn’t started yet but looks to be very good this season especially in both the slalom and giant slalom as well. The Dragons look to get back to the state championship rounds after a solid last season. The Pine Knob region looks to be tough as well with the likes of Clarkston in there but if they can get a good finish then this team could go places this season.

Competitive Cheerleading:

The cheerleaders have a tough schedule as coach Nancy De Aliva decided to go more west than the traditional east route and for good reason. The regional the Dragons are in is at Novi and the teams they will see like Grandville, East Kentwood, Jension, along with Hartland and Howell will be there as well. Lake Orion took third place in the Grandville Invitational and still has more tournaments to the west side of the state as well. In the first OAA Red league meet, the cheerleaders won that beating Rochester and Stoney Creek in the process. The second league meet will be in the friendly confines of Lake Orion along with the district as well. The cheer team has a strong chance to returning back to the Delta Plex after having a tough regional last season and they will have to go through that to get back to Grand Rapids.

Bowling:

The Dragons will be all right this season after a successful season last season for Coach Kevin Crowder but they do have the capabilities to surprise some people this season and possibly contend this season. The Boys had a tough one with Oxford and lost but the Girls beat Oxford in the process.

Power-lifting:

The lifters will be interesting to watch this season. The girls need to replace one lifter from last season while the boys have some lifters to replace but coaches Eric Jennings and Johanna Misiak will find a way to make sure both lifters will be competitive this season.

Enjoy a nice Merry Christmas and Football Bowl Season everyone.

Lapeer unveils new nickname and new colors. It may be shocking to see.

Written Wednesday December 25th, at 1:20 PM

It looks like that the new Lapeer High School will have a new name this upcoming fall. In a surprising and questioning move, Lapeer High School will be nicknamed the Lightning for the 2014-2015 school year.

Lapeer officials claim that the Lightning name portrays speed and power but also light, creative energy, innovation, and transformation.

The colors at Lapeer will be very similar to the primary colors at each of the former schools Lapeer East and Lapeer West. Lapeer East wore Green while Lapeer West wore Dark Blue. Lapeer will make both Dark Blue and Green their school colors while the Gold could be discontinued, be a third color, or replaced with White.

Lapeer will also join a new conference in the 2014-2015 school year as they will be too big for the Flint Metro League and move into the Saginaw Valley Association. A conference that includes Davison, Flint Carman Ainsworth, Saginaw, Saginaw Arthur Hill, Bay City Central, Bay City Western, Midland, Midland Dow, Flint Powers Catholic, and Flint Southwestern Academy.

My personal thoughts on this move, this is a horrible nickname for Lapeer to nickname themselves the Lightning. I’m a storm spotter myself and to see a bright light from a weather system as the name of your school and that thought of saying that I’m a Lightning does not sound right, no offense. I know the hockey team in Lapeer is named the Lightning but to name the new school with that name is a little odd to see.

I know that Tampa Bay has a hockey franchise called the Lightning but there is no other professional or High School team that I can think of that has the name Lightning to their nickname.

I thought the name Griffins would had made better sense because of the Eagle and Panther and you combine them to make a Griffin. I questioned why Bloomfield Hills a few years ago decided to name itself the Blackhawks after Bloomfield Hills Andover and Bloomfield Hills Lahser merged. I see that was a big problem because there were too many schools that had bird names in Oakland County like Falcons, Red Hawks, Hawks etc but this one is really tough to understand, I’ll be curious to see what the mascot of the Lightning would be if it is an animal or a cloud.

My brother’s personal thought on the Lightning nickname is that while the community decided to place their nickname on hockey, it really doesn’t make much sense. It’s not a good nickname to use for a high school setting. Who really calls themselves the Lightning? I also don’t like that they decided to ditch the yellow that both East and West proudly wore. It made a great secondary color. Can’t see either green or dark blue being a true secondary color. I’m also curious to see how Lapeer will compete in the Saginaw Valley especially against the likes of Davison, Carman Ainsworth, and Powers, teams that they have to compete with on a regular basis. Personally I would have liked to see Lapeer compete with the likes of Lake Orion, Oxford, and Clarkston, especially Oxford as both East and West have history with them but they could compete against them as a non conference opponent.

We’ll see what happens with this one here Merry Christmas folks.

Dragons could be back. Rest of the White's Outlook. Also Clarkston Preview.

Written Saturday December 7th, at 12:50 AM

Something is different in Lake Orion and it’s in the air. Could the Dragons be back to where they should be??? Last season the injury riddled team was 6-15 a season ago. Now they already have half of last season’s win total in a week.

The Dragons rolled past West Bloomfield 66-44 on Friday improving its record to 3-0 on the season. The Lakers are in the Red. Lake Orion beat two Flint Metro League teams earlier in the week in Ortonville Brandon 45-37 on Wednesday and beat Lapeer East 66-24 on Monday.

Lake Orion had struggles last season with injuries especially point guard Hannah Hamay missing most of the season with a shoulder injury but has came back strong this season. Hamay’s presence has been huge to what Dragons coach Steve Roberts wants this season.

The White this season will be very difficult especially with the experience and size each team has. The league has a combined 13-3 record in the last 16 games. Lake Orion is 3-0, Rochester Adams is 2-0, Troy is 2-0, Oxford is 2-0, Bloomfield Hills is 2-0, and Farmington is 2-0. Beverly Hills Wylie E. Groves is 0-2 and Rochester is 0-1.

The schedule for these teams hasn’t been the greatest though but some teams will get tested this week.

Bloomfield Hills has blown out its last two opponents Hamtramck and Ferndale University by a combined of 138-23. The Blackhawks could get an interesting two games in the non conference as it plays Birmingham Roeper and Ann Arbor Prep coming up.

Rochester Adams has won their two games over Utica and Madison Heights Bishop Foley by a combined 28 points has a very dangerous match up with Utica Ford on the road coming up.

Troy after outscoring its two opponents Sterling Heights Stevenson and arch rival Troy Athens by a combined 120-49 score will get tested when they play Berkley at home coming up.

The honeymoon maybe over in Farmington after it plays Walled Lake Northern on Saturday. The Falcons have been outscoring opponents 94-58 still has to play Harrison and Waterford Mott coming up.

                                 

Oxford has won its last two games against West Bloomfield and Ortonville Brandon by a combine of eight points might have a better road though with games against Walled Lake Northern, Lakeland, and Milford.

Groves still has to play a nightmare of a non league schedule after getting crushed by Stoney Creek and Harrison. The Falcons have to play Detroit University Prep and Birmingham Roeper.

Rochester lost to Macomb L’Anse Creuse North has a brutal non league schedule as well as it has to play Harrison and Waterford Kettering. The Falcons still have to play in the Falcon Invite with Westland John Glenn, West Bloomfield, and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. The Irish beat Ferndale. The Lakers have lost two tough games to Oxford and Lake Orion and Westland John Glenn is not a bad team either in the Kensington Lakes South division.

The Dragons will have a tough match up with Clarkston on Tuesday at the Wolves Den. The Wolves are also unbeaten at 2-0 and is the favorite in the Red this season and went to the regional finals last season for Coach Tim Waslik. Clarkston features power forward Erica Davenport whom in her last two games has been a scoring and rebounding machine. She had 14 and 27 points respectably in those last two games. Davenport had 27 points and 17 rebounds against Macomb Dakota in a 44-33 win in Macomb County on Friday. She will not be alone though as they have guards Kacy Robinson and Carly Giroux. Robinson who is also a volleyball standout had eight points and four assists against Macomb Dakota while Giroux had ten points against a very bad Walled Lake Western team last Monday night.

Tuesday will be fun folks, so let’s enjoy the ride.

White Early Season Thoughts.

Written Thursday December 5th, at 1:20 PM

When I look at the White so far in this young girls basketball season, the league has a 6-2 record so far into the season. Here are my thoughts on the early schedules now not all non league games are on here but these are the ones early before league play starts

Lake Orion right now is 2-0 on the season after beating both Lapeer East and Ortonville Brandon. The schedule will heat up for the Dragons starting on Friday when the Dragons will host West Bloomfield and then go to Clarkston on Tuesday before Bloomfield Hills comes into Lake Orion in two weeks.

Bloomfield Hills blew out Ferndale University as expected to be 1-0 on the season. The Blackhawks got several contributions from everyone in that game. They still have to play Hamtramck at home and have to go to Birmingham Roeper. I can see Bloomfield Hills being 3-0 heading into Ann Arbor where they will deal with a solid Arbor Prep team before league play starts at Lake Orion in a few weeks.

Oxford survived a tough and speedy West Bloomfield team on Tuesday night with a 47-44 win to be 1-0 on the young season. Looking at their schedule the Wildcats play Ortonville Brandon on the road, which could be another good test for Oxford on Friday. They have White Lake Lakeland at home, the Eagles gave North Farmington all they could handle and Walled Lake Northern whom survived Royal Oak is not that strong but could be the best team in Walled Lake this season of the three Walled Lake schools. The non league schedule is not as strong as people think for the Wildcats.

Troy looked very strong against Sterling Heights Stevenson with a 54-15 blowout of the Titans to be 1-0. The non conference schedule is very manageable for the Colts before league play starts. Troy will host arch rival Troy Athens on Thursday. The Colts do go to Utica Eisenhower to play the Eagles on Tuesday and do host Berkley before league play starts.

Rochester Adams riding their two talented juniors had to get past a tough Utica team 41-37 on Tuesday to be 1-0. The Highlanders will have three very tough non league games coming up when they host Madison Heights Bishop Foley then they go and play Utica Ford then they will host Avondale, whom lost a lot of talent from last season’s shocking district championship team but they are in the mix as well.

Farmington looked impressive after beating Walled Lake Central 43-31 in the Saint Catherine Prep Kickoff Tournament in Wixom on Tuesday night to be 1-0. The Falcons will play Saint Catherine of Siena Academy on Thursday in Wixom and then the non league schedule is a nightmare for Farmington. The Falcons will travel to Harrison and will host Waterford Mott before league play starts.

Rochester lost 90 percent of its scoring from last season and lost to Macomb Lutheran North on Tuesday 41-27 in Macomb and is 0-1 on the new season. The Falcons non league schedule is tough with a trip to Harrison on Friday and then they get to host Waterford Kettering. Rochester will be in a Holiday Tournament which involves West Bloomfield and league rival Oxford. It could be a long season in Falcon country this season.

Beverly Hills-Wylie E Groves lost four starters from a season ago showed their youth against a very good Stoney Creek team on Tuesday night falling 61-12 and is 0-1 on the new season. The non league schedule doesn't get any easier for the Falcons. They host Harrison and then have to play a good University Prep team and then play Birmingham Roeper, a team that has given Beverly Hills-Wylie E Groves fits in the past then league play starts. It could be a tough season in Beverly Hills this season.