Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes (16-4) led early Monday night and pulled off the victory against Bloomfield Hills Roeper (13-8), 45-38. But it surely wasn’t easy for the Lakers.
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Lakes’ sophomore Tiffany Senerius got the scoring started. She helped the Lakers grab an 11-2 lead with 4:31 to play in the first quarter after going 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Roeper then went on a 7-2 run to end the quarter, cutting the deficit to 13-9.
Roeper claimed its first lead of the game when junior Alexis Johnson knocked in a two-pointer with 5:44 in the second to make it 14-13.
But Senerius struck back for Lakes, hitting two straight two-point buckets to give Lakes back the lead with 4:27 to play in the half. Senerius put in another bucket before Lakes guard Madison Oshinsky sank two straight to end the half.
Lakes had a 24-16 advantage going into the second half, and Senerius led all scorers with 16.
Monday’s girls hoops state tournament district scores
Lakes senior Alex Troy made the first bucket of the second half, which was part of a Lakers’ 7-2 run that made it 31-18.
Up 33-22 at the end of three, it seemed as if the Lakers would wrap things up easily in the fourth. However, Roeper picked up its intensity.
“I’ll give them (Roeper) credit,” Lakers coach Steve Robak said. “They put pressure on the ball, and they made it difficult on us.”
Lakes led by as many as 16 when Roeper started making things interesting. And it wasn’t just the defense that stepped up. It was also the offense, which was sparked by the production of senior Naomi Savas.
Savas hit four straight from the stripe, cutting the Rough Riders’ deficit to 10 with 4:28 to play.
The game remained 43-38 until Troy made both of her attempts from the stripe with 14.9 seconds. Troy finished with 11 points while Senerius had a game-high 18 points.
Senior Akwia Tilton was the high scorer for Roeper with 11 while Savas finished with nine.