Lake Orion’s boys? varsity basketball team kicked off the new season with a come-from- behind 65-62 home victory over Linden.
The Dragons followed that up by routing Romeo in their second game of the season.
Against Linden, the Dragons led 30-23 at halftime but were staring at a six-point deficit with just over six minutes to play, trailing 47-41. They’then went on an 18-2 run and took a 10-point lead en route to their first win.
The Dragons were led by senior David Gomez, who scored a game-high 23 points. Junior Steve Zmijewski, playing in his first varsity game, scored 14 points.
Gomez is expected to be the team’s offensive leader this season, according to Coach Tom Manzo.
The coach also praised the play of Zmijewski and said he wasn’t intimidated at all in his first varsity game.
Keith Fields stymied the Linden offense with great ball pressure in the fourth quarter and also chipped in nine points. Noah Harris added eight points.
‘What I’m most pleased with is how we came back in the fourth,? Manzo said. ‘It looked like were in control but in the third quarter all of a sudden we were down six. We just couldn’t catch a break. This is exactly what we needed, though. We got down and showed we can come back and we did it very well. That says a lot about our team.?
The Dragons traveled to Romeo last week for their first road game of the season and came away with a convincing 71-52 victory over the Bulldogs.
Lake Orion’s defense forced several first half turnovers which led to a 39-26 lead at halftime. In the second half, the Dragons continued their defensive pressure and at one time led by as many as 24 points as they coasted to the 19-point win.
The team was led by senior guard David Gomez, who scored a game high 23 points. The Dragons also received an outstanding effort from senior guard Noah Harris, who scored a season-high 20 points.
Steve Zmijewski added seven points, while Keith Fields and Mike Falter each chipped in with six points.
Chris Dudek and Jaylen Wiggins led the team defensively as the Dragons forced 20-plus turnovers.