St. Mary's survives tough matchups against CC, Rice

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s scored two big wins last week as it gears up for the Detroit Catholic League A-B Division Tournament this weekend.

The Eaglets (9-4 overall, 6-4 in the Catholic League Central) began the week with a 47-37 victory at home over Novi Detroit Catholic Central on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

St. Mary’s led 20-19 at halftime and pulled away by outscoring the Shamrocks 27-18 in the second half.

Allen Robinson led the Eaglets with 31 points.

The Eaglets then traveled to Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice on Friday, Feb. 11 and knocked off the Warriors, 48-46.

Things did not look good early for St. Mary’s, as the Eaglets trailed the Warriors 12-5 at the end of the first quarter. Yet St. Mary’s went on a 19-5 run in the second quarter to take a 24-17 halftime lead.

Brother Rice then woke up in the third quarter and went on an 18-8 run to take a 35-32 lead. But the Eaglets outscored the Warriors 16-11 in the fourth to pull out the win and split the season series.

Robinson and Corey Lucas each scored 15 points to lead the Eaglets, who will host Detroit Country Day tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 16 in a matchup for the Vorhees Trophy, which has been awarded since 2002 to the winner of the annual meeting between the teams.

Country Day has won the last two meetings.

The Eaglets will then begin play in the Detroit Catholic League A-B Division basketball tournament on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Bloomfield Hills Marian High School.

The Catholic League Central Division was clinched by Warren De La Salle this past week.