In basketball, they say league titles are won by winning on the road, and road games are won by playing good defense.
So, when visiting Lake Orion held Rochester Adams without a field goal for nearly nine minutes in the second half of their OAA II contest last Friday it was as if to say: ‘come and get us league.?
The Dragons won the first-place showdown 67-52, and their reward is another first-place showdown, this Friday at Southfield.
‘If we get Friday at Southfield, we can be 3-0 and not have played a league game at home yet,? said Coach Jim Manzo.
Against Adams, Manzo’s team trailed by one at the break (33-32), in spite of getting 16 first-half points from reserve swingman Devin Hamilton.
‘Devin provides something off the bench that’s a luxury as a coach,? Manzo said.
Hamilton’s performance was especially important, given that the team’s leading scorer, Drew Maynard, was held to one field goal in the first half.
‘They know Drew’s a good player,? Hamilton said afterwards, ‘so they man up on him.?
The Dragons trailed 42-38, midway through the third quarter, when their defensive run started.
They closed the quarter on a 10-0 run and got the lead up to 56-45 before Adams? Tyler Newsom hit a long jumper with under four minutes left in the game ended the long field goal drought.
From there, Lake Orion continued a balanced scoring effort to close-out the hosts.
‘You talk about sharing the ball,? Manzo said. ‘We had five guys in double figures.?
Hamilton said his game-high 20 points was a career-high, but his excitement was tempered.
‘I’m not worried about points, I’m worried about the team,? he said.
Maynard and Chris Lum had 12 points each, Cole Moore had 11, and Ross Tonyan added 10.
But it was the defense that impressed the coach most.
‘That was the number I was most proud of,? Manzo said, ?19 points in the second half on the road.?
He credited senior Joe Barnes with being the defensive catalyst, but added that it was a total team effort.
Luke Stoebick led Adams with 15, but Coach John Hall said the entire team went cold when it counted.
‘We missed a lot of makeable shots,? he said. ‘I thought we had three or four possessions in a row where we had good looks.?
‘Lake Orion was the aggressor tonight and they deserved to win,? he added, noting the Dragons held a decisive 37-18 rebounding edge.
The loss was Adams? first in the league, but they’ll get a chance for redemption in Lake Orion on Feb. 13.
‘We’re only two games into a 12-game league season,? Hall said. ‘You can’t start counting wins and losses yet.?