MARCH 7-13, 2012
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Our Lady Lakers ❯ ❯ ❯ ❯ PAGE 40
tive season that Our Lady has eliminated Cardinal Mooney from the state tournament. The Lakers have now won five straight games against the Cardinals, including two regular season wins this season. Our Lady began district tournament play with a 51-20 victory over New Haven Merritt Academy in a first-round game on Monday, Feb. 27. Duffey had 11 points for the Lakers. Lexie Robak had 10 points and Cottrell scored 8. The Lakers then defeated Auburn Hills Christian in a district semi-final, 57-16, on Wednesday, Feb. 29. Doetsch and Lexie Robak each scored 13 points while Cottrell had 8 points.
Hartland schools Knights, Eagles; Milford tops Vikes By Michael Shelton staff writer
Walled Lake Northern pulled off an exciting victory over Huron Valley Milford to reach a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Class A district final, only to be schooled by a team that was on a mission. The Knights knocked off the host Mavericks, 36-34, in a district semifinal on Wednesday, Feb. 29 before being knocked out by Hartland, 69-30, in the district final two nights later on Friday, March 2. Hartland (20-3) claimed its third straight district title and looked like a district champion as it out-played the upstart Knights (8-15), leading 20-6 at the end of the first quarter and 42-13 at halftime. One bright spot for the Knights in the loss to Hartland was the performance of junior Caitlin Crowley, who finished with a game-high 19 points. Bailee Maggert led Hartland with 16 points, while Lindsey Pajot had 12 and Jamie Dyer had 10. Northern had a first-round bye in the district tournament and last Wednesday against Milford, the Knights had a 10-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 12-6 lead at halftime. But the Mavs (6-16) responded with an 11-3 run in the third quarter to take a 17-15 lead. The fourth quarter was a shootout as Milford tied the game at 34-34 on a 3-pointer by Paige Smith. But Northern drove the length of the
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Captains crowned Kettering’s district title first since 2008 By Michael Shelton staff writer
After seeing a memorable season end too early in 2011, Waterford Kettering was determined that its success would not stop after the regular season this time around. The Captains demolished rival Waterford Mott and pulled out a grinder over Pontiac before defeating host Auburn Hills Avondale, 41-32, in a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Class A district final on Friday, March 2 to claim their first district championship since 2008. Kettering (21-2) played Southfield-Lathrup in a Class A regional semi-final at Lake Orion on Tuesday, March 6, after press time. The winner will face either Rochester Hills Stoney Creek or Bloomfield Hills Marian in the Lake Orion regional final tomorrow, Thursday, March 8. Last Friday’s win against Avondale (16-7) was a low-scoring affair early on, as Kettering led 4-3 at the end of the first quarter after Avondale ate four minutes off the clock. The second quarter was similar, as the Captains went into the locker room at halftime up 9-8. The scoring started to pick up in the third quarter as Kettering nailed three 3-pointers to take a 19-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Kettering would clinch the victory in the last two and a half minutes of the fourth, when the Captains sunk 8-of-9 free-throws as Avondale was forced to foul. The Captains outscored the Yellow Jackets 22-18 in the fourth. Allison Bicknell led the Captains with 14 points. Arjanai Washington had 11 and Danielle Bohn had 5 points and 9 rebounds, as Kettering exorcised the demons of a first-round district loss to Troy last season, to which Kettering’s 19-2 record and KLAA North title was of little consolation in 2011. To advance to the district final, Kettering had to fight its way past a determined Pontiac team in a district semifinal on Wednesday, Feb. 29 and was in trouble early. The Phoenix had an 11-point lead in the second quarter, as Washington was in trouble with 2 fouls and Bicknell was limited because she stepped on a foot and rolled her ankle a couple nights earlier. The Captains trailed 21-14 at halftime and 31-23 at the end of the third quarter because Kettering Head Coach Scott Woodhull said his team struggled with Pontiac’s half-court trap and made poor decisions with the ball and didn’t put themselves in a position to score. However, Kettering roared out of the gate in the fourth quarter with an 80 run to tie the game at 31-31. The Captains then took a 35-33 lead on a 3-pointer by Bicknell, before Pontiac (12-9) took a 36-35 lead on a trey by Jaraylia Knight. Shelby Watts then hit two clutch free-throws and Bicknell scored on a layup to put the Captains up 39-36 with 35 seconds left. Pontiac had a chance to tie the game, but mistakingly went and scored on a layup with two seconds left and the Captains ran out the clock. Watts had 12 points and 12 rebounds while Bicknell had 11 points. The Captains began district play with an impressive 52-16 victory over Waterford Mott on Monday, Feb. 27, giving Kettering three victories against its biggest rival this season. Erica Schwartz and Washington each had 10 points for the Captains. Taylor Steinhelper had 8 points. Bicknell rolled her ankle in the first quarter and did not play for the rest of the game. Jamie Carter led Mott with 6 points, as the Corsairs ended their season with a 9-12 record. But, Kettering didn’t relapse in Bicknell’s absence and are now hoping that this upcoming week will end with a regional title and a ticket to the state quarter-finals punched. court with 12 seconds left to score the game-winning basket. Crowley led Northern with a gamehigh 23 points while Paige Smith scored 11 points for Milford and Claire Slaughter had 7.
• Huron Valley Milford defeated Walled Lake Central at home, 36-33, in an MHSAA Class A district first-round game on Monday, Feb. 27. The Mavericks (6-16) led 16-9 at
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halftime and 29-16 at the end of the third quarter. They held on to win despite being outscored by the Vikings, 17-7, in the fourth quarter. Slaughter led Milford with 12 points while Maddy Kurtz had 8. Central (714) was led by Kara Birrell with 10 points and Kate Rendi with 9. Milford would go on to lose to eventual district runner-up Walled Lake Northern two nights later in a district semi-final. • Huron Valley Lakeland fell to Hartland, 53-34, in an MHSAA Class A district semi-final at Huron Valley Milford on Wednesday, Feb. 29 in a matchup of two teams both named the Eagles. Hartland led 19-6 at the end of the first quarter and 30-11 at halftime and did not look back in the second half. Marlayna Malvich and Lena Tiedeman each had 7 points to lead Lakeland (7-14) while Maggert had 15 points to lead Hartland, who would go on to defeat Walled Lake Northern in the district final two nights later to claim its third straight district title. Hartland also defeated Howell, 5632, on Monday, Feb. 27 in a first-round game while Lakeland had a first-round bye.
HOCKEY
Corsairs shut out Lakers; Mavs fall to Hartland By Michael Shelton staff writer
Waterford Mott steamrolled over West Bloomfield, 8-0, in a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Division 2 pre-regional final at Lakeland Ice Arena on Thursday, March 1. Austin Sereno scored 5 goals and Scott Cuthrell had two goals and four assists in the victory. John Furton stopped 11 shots in net for Mott, who would fall in overtime to Huron Valley Lakeland in the regional final on Saturday, March 3. Two nights earlier, West Bloomfield (13-12-1) opened pre-regional play with a 4-2 victory over Waterford Kettering on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The first period was scoreless before Nick Manganiello scored for the Lakers in the second period. After Ryan Brown tied it for the Captains (3-20-2), Ryan Houle and Max Dubin each scored to give West Bloomfield a 2-1 lead at the second intermission. PAGE 42 ❯ ❯ ❯ ❯