The Lions are back on a winning track. The Lake Orion Baptist High School Varsity Basketball Team traveled to Wixom on Jan. 13 for a game with the Wixom Christian Warriors.
The team bested the Warriors 47-33.
The Wixom team has a large front court led by its center, Aaron Brown, at 6-foot 5-inches, its forward, AJ DeMasellis at 6-foot 3-inches, who dunked the ball in the fourth quarter, along with forward Mike Demasellis at 6-foot 2-inches and a large body for rebounding.
Despite the height advantage for the Warriors, they were out rebounded by the Lions 34-19. The Lions led in all areas of the game with 21 steals to Wixom’s six and had seven turnovers to Wixom’s 13.
Senior center, Brandon Watterworth, had a triple-double for the evening scoring 12 points, pulling down 17 rebounds, almost as many as the entire Wixon team. He also had 12 steals that included one blocked shot.
Senior forward, Justin Rettger, had 13 points, six rebounds and two steals and played his best game of the season with tremendous hustle.
Sophomore forward, Clinton Verley, continuing his improved play, scored 10 points, had eight rebounds and three steals with one blocked shot.
Point guard sophomore, Jon Moreno, had five points, one rebound and two steals.
The Lions were able to empty their bench in the fourth quarter, giving everyone an opportunity to play. Chris Pigeon scored four points; Steve Zielinski had two and Brad Schick had one.
On Friday, the Lions hosted Faithway Baptist Christian Eagles of Ypsilanti. The game was a down-to-the-wire battle all evening with the Lions coming out victorious 40-36.
The Lions won most of the areas in the statistic column. The team out rebounded the Eagles, 35-24, had fewer turnovers 18-19, had more steals 24-14 and fewer fouls 16-19 with both teams making 11 free throws each.
However, the Lions couldn’t find the basket to score with any consistency until the final quarter, taking a total of 54 shots from the floor and connecting with only 13 for 24 percent.
The Lions were down by two points, 34-36 when Rettger hit a three pointer from the left corner with 13.4 seconds left. He was fouled on the shot and made the free throw, giving the Lions a two point lead.
The Eagles attempted to tie the score but were fouled on the shot and missed, sending the shooter to the free throw line. He missed both free throws and the Lions pulled down the rebound with only 1.4 seconds left.
Watterworth was fouled and made both free throws to give the Lions a four point lead and the game.
Rettiger led all scorers for the Lions, hitting 18 points, pulled down four rebounds, had seven steals with one blocked shot and hit 43 percent of his shots form the floor and three for five from the free throw line.
Watterworth had 11 points, 19 rebounds for a double-double, seven steals with two blocks and two assists. Pigeon had nine points, six rebounds and four steals.
Verley had two points, seven rebounds and four steals with two blocked shots.
As of Jan. 16, the Lions record was 5-3 overall and 5-1 in the conference.