Country Day’s girls? hoops squad hadn’t played a really close game against a team from the state of Michigan all season.
Lake Orion’s Bethany Watterworth made sure they played one on Saturday.
The Dragons fell behind by double-digits early, but 19 first-half points from Watterworth trimmed Country Day’s lead to 36-34 at the break.
Lake Orion hung around, but the deficit grew to 12 points in the final five minutes. A Melanie Lamerato three-pointer with 67 seconds left capped an 11-1 run and cut Country Day’s lead to 60-58.
In the closing seconds, the Dragons had the ball down 63-60. Courtney Zott’s lay-in in the final five seconds cut it to 63-62, but her team didn’t have enough time to get any closer.
Amber Moore hit two free throws and Watterworth’s half-court heave at the buzzer was wide and the hosts led on for a 65-62 victory.
Watterworth finished the game with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Moore led all scorers with 27 points.
‘She’s been out for two or three days,? Roberts said of Watterworth. ‘We’ve had a few kids battling a bronchial flu.?
With her out of the lineup, the team fell 50-45 in overtime on Thursday at Oak Park, snapping their 13-0 start to the season.
The loss to Country Day left the team with a better feeling.
‘To rebound like this after a heartbreaker on Thursday, an overtime loss, we can feel good about a loss today,? Roberts said.
‘I think that we gave Country Day a game that puts us with the state ranked teams,? he added. ‘In our state we’ve given them the best challenge so far.?
Country Day improved to 10-1, with that loss coming to a team from Indiana. The Dragons dropped to 13-2.
Watterworth and Moore were somewhat familiar with each other from AAU ball over the years.
‘I’ve played against her once or twice,? Moore said. ‘She’s very good. It was fun playing against her.?
The two weren’t matched up against each other on the floor however, as Watterworth was defended by 6?6? Madison Williams in the first half.
‘I had their tall girl on me,? Watterworth said. ‘She wasn’t that quick so we tried to put the ball on the floor against her.?
That plan helped the Dragons to a 22-15 edge in the second quarter, but Country Day made some halftime adjustments.
‘We weren’t handling the man-to-man at all,? Coach Frank Orlando said. ‘So we went to a zone and it helped us a lot. We had to take the ball out of her (Watterworth’s) hands.?
Lake Orion made just three of their 12 second half three-point attempts against the zone.
Lamerato finished with 10 points, Zott added nine and Cortney Kimmel had 10 assists.
The team hosts Stoney Creek on Tuesday.