Our Lady slips in Catholic League East title race

Sickness and injuries plagued Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes last week and contributed to a pair of losses.

The Lakers fell at home to Livonia Ladywood, 55-54, on Monday, Jan. 31 before traveling to Marine City Cardinal Mooney on Thursday, Feb. 3 and losing 54-45 to share the Catholic League East title with the rival Cardinals and fall to the No. 2 seed in the League’s C-D Division tournament on a tiebreaker.

Our Lady (11-3 overall, 6-2 in the Catholic League East) played last week without two of their star players, as Lauren Robak was stricken with mono and Ava Doetsch was recovering from an ankle injury suffered while playing travel soccer.

According to Our Lady Head Coach Steve Robak, Lauren Robak is scheduled for a doctor’s visit on Thursday, Feb. 10 and hopefully will be back in the next couple weeks; while Doetsch is day-to-day with her injury.

Against Ladywood, the Lakers trailed 26-14 at halftime, but cut the lead to 5 points on three occasions in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they got.

Lexie Robak finished with 13 points and 2 steals for Our Lady, while Carlee Cottrell had 11 points and 2 assists, but Ladywood shot 17-for-20 from the free-throw line.

Our Lady then faced arch-rival Cardinal Mooney (11-2, 6-2) on Thursday and fell behind 16-9 in the first quarter and trailed 28-21 at halftime.

The Lakers couldn’t overcome their shooting woes in the third quarter, as they were held to only 4 points.

Our Lady fought back and cut the Cardinal lead to 2 points with 2 minutes left in the fourth, but turned the ball over four times in the final 2 minutes. Cardinal Mooney pulled away by hitting key free throws down the stretch.

“I was pretty disappointed with the loss, especially with the way it happened — far too many turnovers,” Coach Robak said. “Our team needs to get focused on the defensive side and do a better job of protecting the ball.”

The Lakers will host a Catholic League C-D Division playoff game Thursday, Feb. 10 against Riverview Gabriel Richard, with the winner advancing to the semi-finals at Madonna University on Saturday, Feb. 12.

Our Lady is the defending C-D Division champion.