Our Lady beats Mooney for league crown

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes has brought a third consecutive Detroit Catholic League championship trophy back to the Lakers’ court.

Our Lady (15-4) defeated rival Marine City Cardinal Mooney, 54-45, in the Catholic League C-D Division title game at Calihan Hall on the campus of Detroit Mercy on Sunday, Feb. 20.

Last Sunday marked the fourth consecutive year Our Lady and Cardinal Mooney have met for the Catholic League title, with Our Lady winning the past three.

The game was tied at 5-5 early in the first quarter, before Our Lady took an 18-11 lead at the end of the first.

However, Cardinal Mooney took advantage of defensive breakdowns by the Lakers and used their size down low to take a 31-27 lead at halftime.

The Lakers answered by outscoring the Cardinals 14-7 in the third quarter to take a 41-38 lead.

Our Lady was then able to close out the game in the fourth quarter, as the Lakers converted on open shots and free throws. Our Lady shot 11-of-14 from the free-throw line on Sunday, as compared to just 7-of-18 shooting for Cardinal Mooney.

Carlee Cottrell led Our Lady with 20 points. Lauren Robak had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Meghan Topolewski also had 8 points for the Lakers, while Ava Doetsch had 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Lexie Robak had 6 points.

Our Lady began the week by playing a Catholic League crossover game at Dearborn Divine Child, and fell 40-37.

The game was evenly contested, as Divine Child led 13-12 after the first quarter and 26-24 at halftime.

Our Lady tied the game at 31-31 at the end of the third quarter, and Lauren Robak stole the ball with 18 seconds left in the fourth but missed a layup that would have put Our Lady ahead, and Divine Child would hold on to win.

Cottrell finished with 14 points. Ava Doetsch had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists, and Lauren Robak finished with 7 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals.

The Lakers then traveled north to Saginaw Nouvel on Thursday, Feb. 17 and won 46-41. Our Lady trailed 12-11 after the first quarter before taking a 22-18 halftime lead.

The Lakers increased their lead to 35-26 at the end of the third quarter thanks to Nouvel turnovers and Our Lady using its transition game to score.

Lauren Robak led Our Lady with 19 points, including 11-of-13 free-throw shooting. Cottrell scored 14 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 2 assists.

Doetsch also had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals for Our Lady, who will travel to Warren Regina to close out the regular season.

The Lakers will then begin defense of their Class D state championship by taking on the West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy in a district semi-final playoff game at Everest Collegiate on Wednesday, March 2.