Lakers aim for division lead

With the regular season winding down, it’s setting up to be a fight to the finish in the Oakland Activities Association (OAA) Red Division, with West Bloomfield still in the hunt.

The Lakers (10-4 overall, 7-2 in the OAA Red) began last week on the road at North Farmington and used a 22-6 third quarter run to score a huge 60-53 victory on Thursday, Feb. 10.

The game was tied at 23-23 at halftime, but the Lakers’ third-quarter run quickly swung the momentum in their favor as they led 45-29 at the end of the quarter and held on to win in the fourth.

Spencer Parker continued his strong play by leading the Lakers with 34 points, including 19 in the first half, which was just shy of his season-high of 35 points. Nick Leventis followed with 14 and Daryn Byrd had 8.

Caleb Hogans led North Farmington (9-4, 5-3) with 20 points in the loss.

The Lakers then enjoyed a once in a lifetime experience by playing on the Detroit Pistons’ home court at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Friday, Feb. 11, when they took on Auburn Hills Avondale in an OAA crossover game.

Despite a hard-fought effort, the Lakers fell to the Yellow Jackets, 59-58.

Avondale led 29-20 at halftime and 57-43 in the fourth quarter before the Lakers tried to mount a comeback with a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 57-53.

The Lakers trailed 59-58 late as Avondale’s Tony Harris missed two free throws and Avondale turned the ball over on the inbounds pass as Harris rebounded his own miss on the second free throw.

West Bloomfield put the ball in the hands of Parker, but his shot was blocked and the Lakers were forced to call timeout to set up one final shot, which ultimately fell short in the end.

Parker finished with 26 points for the Lakers while Harris scored 18 points for Avondale (11-3) and Ray Tillman followed with 14 points for the Jackets.

The Lakers are currently tied with Southfield for first-place in the OAA Red Division at 7-2, with Pontiac and Clarkston not far behind at 5-2.

West Bloomfield hosted Oak Park yesterday, Tuesday, Feb. 15 after press time and will travel to Southfield for a big showdown with the Blue Jays on Friday, Feb. 18.

The Lakers will then finish the regular season by hosting Pontiac on Feb. 24 and traveling to Clarkston on March 1.