The Dragons were missing center Cole Moore for their game against visiting Rochester last week, but that wasn’t the big story.
That honor belonged to the two big men that filled in for the senior starter, Steve Jorgensen and Chad Nieswand.
The pair combined for 21 points as Lake Orion broke the game open late in the first half and went on for a 56-44 win.
‘When Cole came back, he took away a lot of those two kids? minutes,? Coach Jim Manzo said. ‘But they come every day, work hard in practice and have terrific attitudes. They did everything that Cole would have done.?
Moore saw his first game action at the beginning of January, but tweaked his back a few days prior to the Rochester game and sat out as a precautionary measure while awaiting an MRI.
His team, meanwhile, completed their first season sweep of an OAA II foe and will get five more tries at that feat in the coming weeks.
The game was played at the LOHS Fieldhouse last Wednesday after schools were closed the day before due to cold temperatures.
‘Their kids played hard and our kids played hard,? Rochester Coach Matt Jansen said. ‘It was very difficult to come in here without practicing for four days.
‘But no excuses,? he added. ‘They just played smarter than we did.?
On the other hand, Lake Orion practiced the Saturday prior and had a walk-through early in the week.
Nevertheless, the game stayed tight until the Dragons went on an 8-0 run midway through the second quarter to turn a two-point advantage into a 10-point lead.
Devin Hamilton hit an off-balanced jumper and a three pointer, sandwiched around a Nieswand three-point play, to help build a 22-12 halftime advantage.
Rochester came from as many as 16 down in the third quarter to close the stanza down just six at 35-29.
But the hosts got things back to a comfortable margin early in the fourth, using a Drew Maynard three pointer and back to back buckets by Jorgensen and Joe Barnes.
Hamilton and Nieswand led LO with 11 apiece, with Jorgensen adding 10 and Maynard chipping in nine.
Stephen Henning scored 20 to lead all scorers, but he was the only Rochester player in double-figures. The Falcons did help out LO on Friday night, by handing Southfield their second league loss.
The Dragons, meanwhile, improved to 7-0 in league play and 10-4 overall.
The one-game week gave LO extra time to prepare for their biggest week to date.
‘We can separate ourselves or we can make it interesting,? Manzo said.