A strong fourth quarter helped host Pontiac Central come from behind against Lake Orion on Tuesday night.
Central took the lead for good early in the final stanza, and outscored the Dragons 19-9 in the quarter to prevail 59-50.
The Chiefs played without leading scorer Dameon Abram (broken finger).
Drew Maynard scored 18 to lead all scorers and Cole Moore added 14 for LO (12 of which came in the first half).
The Dragons will try to rebound against Birmingham Groves on Friday night.
Meanwhile, last week was one to remember for the LO basketball program.
They had cake last Tuesday night, but saved the party for Friday.
Lake Orion celebrated Coach Jim Manzo’s 100th career win with a 53-41 knock-out of Rochester Adams on Feb. 13, putting them in position to win the OAA II league title last Friday versus Southfield.
The visiting Blue Jays had plans of their own, however, and led for most of the game. That is, until an unlikely source took over the spotlight for the Dragons and led them to a 56-54 victory.
Senior Joe Barnes, known more for his tackling in the secondary and RBIs as a middle infielder than his scoring prowess on the basketball court, scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, including the game winner for Lake Orion.
‘He flat out stepped up,? Manzo said. ‘That’s the best game I’ve ever seen him play. He’s done a lot of good things for us and it’s good to see him get some recognition because he just would not let us lose.?
Barnes was one of six Dragons honored before the game on ‘senior night.?
‘I just got hot at the right time, I guess,? Barnes said. ‘My teammates were finding me and it just felt great to step up.?
His efforts helped Lake Orion ensure back-to-back league titles. The team won the OAA III last season, but clinched on the road.
‘I’m going to do some research,? Manzo said. ‘But in the last 25 years, unless that 83-84 team won back-to-back league titles, which I don’t think they did, history was in the making tonight. These guys are forever etched up on that wall.?
Maynard led the Dragons with 15 points, but was held scoreless by Southfield’s box-and-one defense (and attempted only one shot) until he converted on a crowd-pleasing dunk early in the third quarter.
That dunk was part of a 12-2 Dragon run to open the half that wiped out Southfield’s 28-18 halftime advantage (Southfield had closed the first half on a 10-0 run).
But the Blue Jays took a 39-31 lead into the fourth thanks to a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter that included a 35-foot buzzer beater from Austin Calhoun.
The Dragons tied the game at 46-all, then took their first lead since the opening minutes on a Barnes three-pointer.
LO led 54-51 with 40 seconds to go when Calhoun hit another long three to tie things up.
That paved the way for Barnes? pump-fake and pull-up from just inside the three-point line that hit nothing but net with just over 20 seconds left.
Calhoun, who led Southfield with 18 points, missed a 35-footer that would’ve won the game just before the horn.
Dominique Barnes was the only other Blue Jay in double figures with 15 points.
The Dragons, meanwhile, got nine points and 13 rebounds from Moore, eight points and eight boards from Chris Lum and six points and six assists from Ross Tonyan.
The win assures LO of the best record in league action. They improved to 9-0 in the OAA II, while second-place Southfield (which lost twice to the Dragons) fell to 6-3.
‘That was just one of our goals,? Manzo said, ‘and now we’ve got bigger ones to get from there.?
The Dragons are 12-4 overall and won’t return home until district action against Waterford Kettering in early March.