By Jim Newell
Review Editor
ORION TWP. — There wasn’t much Birmingham Groves could do against the Lake Orion girls varsity basketball team on Thursday.
Offensively and defensively, the Dragons dominated the Falcons en route to a 66-29 victory that saw nearly all of Lake Orion’s bench get playing time in the second half of the game, with 10 Dragons putting points up on the board.
Coach Bob Brydges’s Dragons are now 11-2 overall and 6-1 in the Oakland Activities Association – Red division behind first place West Bloomfield (11-2, 7-0 OAA-Red), according to MHSAA statistics.
Groves drops to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the OAA Red.
Lake Orion traveled to West Bloomfield to take on the Lakers on Tuesday after Lake Orion Review press time. The Dragons will then finish the regular seasons against the Lakers at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Lake Orion.
The road to a league title does not get any easier for the Dragons, with games against Clarkston, Rochester and West Bloomfield still ahead of them.
Lake Orion travels to Clarkston (8-3 overall, 5-3 OAA Red) on Friday to take on the Wolves – tied for third in the league – in what is sure to be a pivotal game in the division. Tip off is at 7 p.m.
The Dragon’s lost to Rochester High School (10-3, 3-2 OAA Red) on Dec. 18 and will look to get revenge on Feb. 16. Lake Orion’s other loss was 67-42 non-conference loss to Detroit Renaissance in the Laker Classic at West Bloomfield.
Maddie Ebbert led the scoring for the Dragons, netting 15 points against Groves. Ebbert also had 10 steals and four assists.
Chloe Wiegers scored 13 points and Kylie Heck added eight points and four steals.
Ryann Pawlaczyk, Carmen Huertas and Taylor Dinda each scored seven points, with Dinda getting three rebounds.
Jodie McCaffery added three points while Allison May, Alana McGinnis and Fontana Blackney each chipped in two points.
Lake Orion led 37-15 at halftime and 51-22 at the end of the third quarter, keeping the Falcons to just 14 points in the second half.