By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
ORION TWP. — The Lake Orion High School girls varsity basketball team held Troy High School to 32 points in their home opener on Dec. 3.
Dragons Head Coach Bob Brydges said his team is running a new defense this season, and has nine players make their varsity debut.
“We’re going to have to live and die with our defense, and we did that tonight,” Brydges said. “We played great defense tonight, and we’re going to have to continue to do that every single night.”
Brydges also said his team’s defense was the most significant part of their performance to take into the rest of the season, adding that it can only get better.
On the offensive side of the court, Dragons captain Isabel Wotlinski led all scorers with 19 points – 14 of which she scored during the first half. Troy Junior Diamond Prince scored 14 points, the game’s second most.
Wotlinski scored Lake Orion’s first points of the season with just over four minutes to play in the first quarter – the first points of a 12-0 run that would last into the second quarter. Ball movement led to junior Danica Heck scoring while being fouled while shooting to give the Dragons their first lead of the game.
The Dragons were fouled and sent to the free throw line several more times during the first quarter. Free throws, plus a baseline jump shot from Wotlinski, put the Dragons ahead 11-2 going into the second quarter.
Lake Orion scored their 14th point of the game before one of the Dragon’s 33 turn overs led to Troy scoring their second time in the game. A three-point shot by Wotlinski and Troy junior Oliva Spangler accounted for half of the second quarter’s field goals, while two made free throws by Wotlinski gave the Dragons a 18-7 lead at halftime.
Wotlinski scored all but four of Lake Orion’s points during the first half. Brydges called Wotlinski a “big-time player in big-time minutes.”
“She’s already committed to Calvin (College) next year to go play college ball, so she knows what it takes,” Brydges said. “She’s one of the hardest workers, she’s one of, if not our best player.”
Although Lake Orion’s defense continued to help their efforts early in the third quarter as it trapped a Colt, leading to a Troy 30 second time out. Troy ultimately outscored the Dragons 18-6 in the quarter.
A three-point shot by Troy senior Kelsey Block shortened the Dragon’s lead to six points, and two free throws made by Spangler brought Troy within two points. Scoring from Prince, Block, Spangler and seniors Reagan Zeiter, Sophia Kaltsounis and Savannah Oddy gave the Colts the lead, 25-24, by the end of the third quarter.
Wotlinski blocked a shot to get Lake Orion the ball near the start of the game’s final eight minutes. From there, sophomore Vega Reglero scored on a contested layup to regain the lead for Lake Orion.
A Lake Orion foul put junior Carly Higginbotham at the free throw line, where she made her second foul shot to tie the game at 26 points.
With 5:31 to play in the game, four unanswered points by Lake Orion caused Troy to take a time out just over three minutes later.
Prince then scored four unanswered points of her own, off two free throws and a layup, to tie the game at 30 points.
Lake Orion freshman Ulara Hill scored while being fouled to regain the lead for the Dragons, who never fell behind again as two key free throws from Heck put the game out of reach for Troy.
Prince outscored all other players in the game’s final quarter, and scored six of her team’s seven points.
The Dragons lost their next two games to Avondale High School, 57-39, and Brighton High School, 39-31.
The team’s next home game is 7 p.m. Dec. 19 against Bay City Western High School.
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