Central defeats Northern, Western to win city crown

Walled Lake Central claimed the Walled Lake city championship last week by taking down both Walled Lake Northern and Walled Lake Western.

The Vikings defeated Northern at home, 60-48, on Tuesday, Feb. 1, before defeating Western at home, 40-26, on Friday, Feb. 4.

Central (6-8 overall, 3-5 in the KLAA North) finished 3-1 against its Walled Lake rivals in the regular season, with the only loss coming to Northern on Jan. 11.

Against Northern last Tuesday, Central led 20-19 after the first quarter before going on a 19-5 run in the second quarter to lead 35-28 at halftime.

The Vikings outscored the Knights 25-20 in the second half to pull out the win.

“We’re a tough team to beat when we’re hitting shots,” said Central Head Coach Rob Schopf. “Opposing defenses can’t focus on only one player when five different players make three-pointers.”

Kara Birrell led Central with 22 points. Tori Duffey had 16 and Ciara Sims scored 11.

Against Western, the Vikings led 18-13 at halftime before outscoring the Warriors 22-13 in the second half.

Sims led Central with 13 points. Lisa Warrior had 12, including 7-for-8 free-throw shooting.

“Sims has been our inside threat on a perimeter-oriented team,” Schopf said. “What makes Ciara so hard to defend is she is capable of hitting three-point shots. She scores a lot off backdoor plays.

“Lisa leads by example,” he added. “If there’s a hustle play that needs to be made, Lisa is the one making it.”

Madison Schram scored 9 points for Western (2-11, 1-6).

Central played at Waterford Mott on Tuesday, Feb. 8 after press time and will travel to Waterford Kettering on Friday, Feb. 11.