By Teddy Rydquist

Review Sports Contributor

Voted on by the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) Red Division coaches and announced publicly on March 19, two Lake Orion seniors, Dylan Boedigheimer and Cam Sutton, were among 17 players to receive league honors in boys’ basketball for their performance in the 2019-20 season.

Boedigheimer, a center, was among 14 players named to the All-OAA Red Team. Sutton and two others received honorable mention.

One of the league’s top-five rebounders at nine per game, Boedigheimer also finished as the Dragons’ second-leading scorer at 12 points per contest. Sutton, one of the OAA’s most lethal three-point shooters, was the top scorer on the squad at 16 points per game, dishing out two assists per tilt, as well.

“I was excited to inherit those guys,” said head coach Joel Schroeder, who agreed to the Lake Orion job in April 2019.

“Dylan (Boedigheimer) was one of our tougher guys, (he) fought through a lot of injuries and illness this year. He brought toughness and rebounding and defense and leadership to our group, all of which we needed this year. I had a lot of fun coaching him.

“With Cam (Sutton), he’s a durable gym rat. The kid loves basketball, he can really score it and he came along defensively this year, too. We (the coaching staff) were on him about needing to have a complete game, and I feel the last six-to-eight games, he really came into his own that way.”

As is the case in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s “March Madness,” the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s (MHSAA) one-and-done postseason format favors teams that get hot and play their best basketball in the month of March.

Schroeder’s Dragons embodied this by topping the Romeo Bulldogs and Waterford Kettering Captains on March 9 and 11, respectively, to advance to the MHSAA District No. 5 championship game against the Clarkston Wolves on March 13. This rivalry rematch never happened, however, as the MHSAA canceled all winter tournaments to help combat the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Not too many teams can say they won their last game of the season, so that’s exciting,” Schroeder said, trying to find the positive in the situation.

Despite the abrupt ending to the campaign, there are advantages to concluding the season in the fashion Lake Orion did, with a double-overtime district semifinal victory.

“That win can be big for us rolling into the summer,” Schroeder shared. “Especially with the unknowns of the situation we’re dealing with now. It was just great to see these guys have a nice tournament run, with the growth we had being in the OAA Red, it was nice for them to end playing well.”

Boedigheimer currently plans to stay in Oakland County and attend Oakland University in the fall, while Sutton has yet to announce his destination for the next academic year. Both young men are open to exploring opportunities to continue playing basketball at the collegiate level.

All-OAA Red Team

Senior Dylan Boedigheimer – Lake Orion

Senior Fred Garland – Oak Park

Senior Colin Golson – Ferndale

Senior Jamal Hayes – North Farmington

Senior Collin Hecker – Bloomfield Hills

Freshman Ryan Hurst – West Bloomfield

Junior Basheer Jihad – North Farmington

Senior Eddie Lenton – North Farmington

Sophomore Treyvon Lewis – Ferndale

Sophomore Fletcher Loyer – Clarkston

Senior Shamar Mathews – West Bloomfield

Senior Jayshawn Moore – Ferndale

Senior Matt Nicholson – Clarkston

Sophomore Keegan Wasilk – Clarkston

Honorable Mention

Junior Mason Canfield – Bloomfield Hills

Senior Chris Gary – Oak Park

Senior Cam Sutton – Lake Orion

Coach of the Year: Tim Wasilk – Clarkston