Our Lady rally falls a bit short against Detroit Loyola

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes is one of the most improved teams in the Detroit Catholic League, but Detroit Loyola is no stranger to championships itself.

Loyola, the defending Catholic League C-D Division champion, held off the Lakers, 51-46, in an Catholic League C-D tournament game at Bloomfield Hills Marian on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

Our Lady (13-6) trailed 27-23 at halftime and saw the deficit grow to double digits in the third quarter before clawing its way back into the game in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers cut the lead to 48-46 with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter, but two turnovers did the Lakers in and doomed their Catholic League title hopes.

Garrett Ross led the Lakers with 14 points on the evening, while Austin Karbowski followed with 12 points and Jake Doetsch scored 8.

Montell Cook, Devonte Jones and Justin King each had 12 points for Loyola, which went on to lose to Madison Heights Bishop Foley, 68-55, in the Catholic League C-D Division title game at Calihan Hall at Detroit Mercy on Sunday, Feb. 27.

While Our Lady fell short of a championship, it received plenty of individual honors last week when the Catholic League Honor Team was named.

Karbowski and Ross were named to the All-Catholic Team in the Intersectional Division, while Jared Ritch was named to the All-League Team in the Intersectional Division.

Jim Hingst was also named to the All-Academic Team while Our Lady Head Coach Sean Wightman was named the Intersectional Division Coach of the Year in his second year at the helm of Our Lady.

The Lakers finished the regular season on Tuesday, March 1 after press time, when they traveled to Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart.

Our Lady will next take on West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy in a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) district semi-final at Everest Collegiate on Wednesday, March 9.