Class D: Lakers Press On to Saturday

March 15, 2012

EAST LANSING – For three quarters Thursday, Waterford Our Lady struggled to find the gear that has allowed the Lakers to become Class D’s latest powerhouse program.

With 5 minutes, 32 seconds to play, everything clicked.

Game over.

Champions do that kind of thing. And Our Lady will go for its third straight Saturday after surviving a good scare from Portland St. Patrick before advancing with a 54-44 win.

“I feel like all game we were trying to find our rhythm. It’s an intense atmosphere being here, and you don’t really know what to expect,” Our Lady senior Tori Duffey said. “Something just kinda came over us. … We knew we had to do it now. We’re talented enough that we can do that.”

The No.7 Lakers (22-4) will face either Crystal Falls Forest Park or Athens at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Our Lady never trailed against Portland St. Patrick. The Lakers pushed their lead to double figures three times.

But St. Patrick, which owns six MHSAA titles and has sat in the favorite spot plenty of times, pulled within three points of the lead – 34-31 – with a quarter to play.

The Shamrocks entered the postseason unranked at 19-6. But they were 12-1 over their last 13 games. And it seemed like St. Patrick’s first lead, if gained, might be able to stand until the final buzzer.

“I guess I didn’t feel like they were the favorites coming in. I thought if we played well and took care of business, I thought it would be a two or four-point ball game,” Portland St. Patrick coach Al Schrauben said. “The way we played the second half of the year, I was quite comfortable playing with anybody.”

But with 5:32 to play, and the Lakers lead just 38-34, everything fell back into place for Our Lady.

Thanks in large part to a suffocating defensive press, the Lakers took advantage of five St. Patrick turnovers over just more than two minutes – and pushed the lead to 49-34.

“Even if the shots aren’t going in, and we make a couple of mistakes, the thing about this group is they never hang their heads,” Our Lady coach Steve Robak said. “They continued to play on the defensive end, and eventually good things happen.”

Senior Carlee Cottrell scored a game-high 17 points and had five assists for Our Lady, and junior Ava Doetsch added 14 points and four assists. Junior Lexie Robak had eight points and nine rebounds.

Juniors Tori Goodrich and Courtney Dixon each scored seven points for St. Patrick, and senior Sidney Hill had seven rebounds.

“When we were 7-5, I didn’t think we’d even get a District title,” Shamrocks senior Stephanie Miros said. “I love the girls on this team. We’re great friends. So it’s a great memory.”

Click for the box score. Watch the game and both teams' postgame press conferences at MHSAA.tv.

PHOTO: Our Lady sophomore guard Anna Robb takes a shot Thursday. She scored four points. (Photo courtesy of Terry McNamara Photography.)

West Bloomfield Hangs On to Edge Rockford, Reach 1st Final since 1989

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 18, 2022

EAST LANSING – West Bloomfield girls basketball coach Darrin McAllister said his team has played all sorts of opponents and their varying styles this season, but he admitted he hadn’t seen a team like Rockford. 

And that included Detroit Edison, a squad that hadn’t lost to a Michigan school since 2017-18 before West Bloomfield won their February matchup. 

“We have not faced a team that shoots that amount of threes and has the ability to make them,” McAllister said of Rockford.

Indeed, in Friday’s first Division 1 Semifinal at Michigan State’s Breslin Center, West Bloomfield saw Rockford attempt a whopping 37 shots from 3-point range against the Lakers’ zone, making 13 of them. 

In contrast, West Bloomfield made only three shots from behind the 3-point line. 

“I do play a lot of different zones, but I was definitely searching for something,” McAllister said. 

Despite the barrage of 3-pointers and 30-point disadvantage from behind the 3-point line, McAllister saw his young team overcome and find a way, as West Bloomfield made the winning plays at the end to earn a 66-63 win over Rockford.

The Lakers (24-1) advanced to the championship game for the first time since 1989, when it finished runner-up to Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills. 

“I’m happy that we won, but if I had hair I’d probably have pulled it out by now,” McAllister joked.

The big reason why West Bloomfield was able to survive was its sophomore forward duo, Indya Davis and Summer Davis. 

Indya Davis had 24 points and eight rebounds, while Summer Davis had 16 points and seven rebounds.  

West Bloomfield/Rockford basketballSenior Myonna Hooper added 14 points, and junior Sydney Hendrix had 10 points and 10 rebounds as well for the Lakers. 

“I didn’t take it upon myself,” Indya Davis said of her performance. “I took it upon the whole team and doing it for the team.”

With the game tied at 58-58 with 1:02 remaining, West Bloomfield took a 60-58 lead after two free throws by Hooper. 

Following a turnover by Rockford, West Bloomfield extended the lead to 61-58 when sophomore Destiny Washington hit the first of two free throws with 40 seconds to go.

Washington missed the second free throw, but Summer Davis got the offensive rebound and passed the ball back to Hooper, who was fouled and drained both free throws to give West Bloomfield a 63-58 advantage with 36.6 seconds remaining. 

On Rockford’s next possession, a 3-point attempt by Gabrielle Irwin rimmed out and was rebounded by Indya Davis, who got the ball up to Washington.

After being fouled, Washington split a pair of free throws with 14.1 seconds remaining to give West Bloomfield a 64-58 lead and all but seal the game. 

The teams then traded two free throws each before Rockford hit a 3-pointer right at the buzzer to account for the final score. 

Rockford saw six different players connect on 3-pointers, led by sophomore Grace Lyons, who drilled five en route to a team-high 21 points. 

Rockford coach Brad Wilson admitted his team usually doesn’t shoot that many 3-pointers in a game.

“That’s more than normal, but we are fully capable of doing that,” Wilson said. “Sometimes, you take what the defense gives you. We believe in our kids. It’s a little bit unusual, but all five players on the court have the green light at all times. We just believe in them. We attack gaps and pass where the help comes from. We rep that out all year, so we have confidence that it’s going to go in.”

Rockford was making its first appearance as a program in a Semifinal, and the community certainly followed with a good portion of Breslin Center covered in orange. 

“I am so proud of our community and the support they gave,” Wilson said. “Just to be a part of something like that, a sea of orange, was just so much fun.” 

Rockford held a 31-26 lead at halftime and was up 36-30 in the third quarter before West Bloomfield went on a 9-0 run to take a 39-36 lead with 5:52 left in the period.

Rockford then got hot from the perimeter again, hitting three more 3-pointers before the quarter ended to take a 49-48 lead into the fourth.

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield celebrates its Division 1 Semifinal win over Rockford on Friday. (Middle) The Lakers’ Sydney Hendrix (5) gets a shot up over a pair of Rams defenders. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)