The Lake Orion Girls Basketball team have prided themselves on their good passing attack all year long.
Unfortunately for the Dragons, they started passing around the flu bug last week, and their Oakland Activities Association Division III title hopes took a big hit in the process.
Playing without starter and leading scorer Bethany Watterworth, the team edged Oak Park 39-28 at home on Oct. 24.
Cara Booker stepped into the starting lineup for the Dragons and delivered a game-high 10 points.
With a smaller team on the floor, Oak Park controlled the rebounding battle, particularly on the offensive end. But Lake Orion was resilient on defense as Christine Norton and Trisha Dalrymple each had four blocked shots.
Prior to the Oct. 26 game at Stoney Creek, Dalrymple joined Watterworth on the injury/sick report.
Stoney Creek took advantage, going on a 17-0 run over the second and third quarter to help defeat the Dragons 44-36.
‘Dalrymple was out with the flu and Watterworth was limited,? Coach Steve Roberts said. ‘Two players that play a considerable amount of minutes did not play or played limited minutes.?
Still, the Dragons had some chances, and actually led by seven points after one quarter.
In the second, however, Stoney Creek got three 3-pointers from Liz Moss and two more from Kristen Bednarowski, to help take the halftime lead.
The Stoney Creek outside touch forced Roberts to change his defensive approach in the second half, moving from a box-and-one (designed to slow down Creek’s leading scorer, Brittany Nelson) to a man-to-man.
Nelson responded by finding her shooting touch, hitting a couple of 3-pointers in the quarter, on her way to a game high 15 points.
The Dragons rallied in the fourth quarter, but Stoney Creek’s 17-0 run was just too much to overcome.
Cortney Kimmel led Lake Orion with 11 points and Watterworth added seven, all in the second half.
It was the second loss in the league for Lake Orion. Stoney Creek has three losses, but both squads are staring up at undefeated North Farmington.
‘We are two games out of first,? Roberts said. ‘Mathematically, we still have an opportunity to move into first place, but someone has to help us by defeating North Farmington.?
The Dragons host North Farmington on Nov. 7, when they will try to avenge a buzzer-beater, overtime loss from earlier in the season. It’s the team’s final home game, and it tips-off at 7 p.m.