LO defeats Seaholm, 38-29

The Lake Orion Dragons boys’ varsity basketball team won a defensive battle in the OAA Blue on Feb. 19, defeating Birmingham Seaholm 38-29. Both teams had a slow start, but several buckets in the second half by LO junior Malachi Grandberry and three three-pointers from senior Andrew Bryant sparked an offensive run for the Dragons.

The Dragons’ junior Alden Ritt led the night’s scoring with 12 points; Grandberry finished with 10.

For the Maples, senior Ben Slazinski led with eight points, and junior John Chinonis added seven.

“We haven’t put a full game together yet this season. Our team is still looking for an identity,” said Joel Schroeder, LO head coach. “We will always take learning with winning, though. The second half, we got great guard play and turned up the intensity on defense. It will come; we just need to keep working,”

Lake Orion were back at it again the next day, hosting Dexter at home on Feb. 20.

The Dexter Dreadnaughts defeated the Lake Orion Dragons’ boys’ varsity basketball team 27-19.

Both teams showed great offensive patience in the low-scoring game. The top scorer for the evening was Lake Orion junior Alden Ritt, who had 15 points.

For Dexter, junior Cal Bavineau and sophomore Evan Haroldson each had eight points.

“It was a tough loss today. We have been struggling to score this season, and today, it finally caught up to us,” said LO head coach Joel Schroeder. “We played a great game defensively and executed offense better than we have so far this season. It’s hard to win when you can’t score.”

Lake Orion is now 3-2, 1-1 in the OAA Blue. The Dragons hit the road, heading to University of Detroit Jesuit on Feb. 23.

— C.B.