Zone change stymies St. Mary's in league tourney

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s will have to wait another year for a shot at the Detroit Catholic League championship, as it was eliminated from the Catholic League A-B Division tournament by Detroit Jesuit, 64-58, at Bloomfield Hills Marian on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

The Eaglets (10-8) fell behind, 19-4, in the first quarter before storming back to take a 29-25 lead at halftime.

However, the Cubs woke up and scored 11 straight points to start the third quarter and were able to pull away.

“When Jesuit switched zones in the second half, we couldn’t get the ball inside,” said St. Mary’s Head Coach George Porritt.

Allen Robinson led the Eaglets with 18 points. Sam McClendon and Corey Lucas each scored 10 points.

Chris Jenkins and Cameron Fowler each had 20 points for Jesuit, which lost two regular season games to St. Mary’s.

Jesuit went on to fall to Warren De La Salle, 59-46, in the Catholic League A-B Division title game on Sunday, Feb. 27 at Detroit Mercy’s Calihan Hall.

The Eaglets also garnered many individual honors this past week when the Catholic League’s Honor Team was announced.

Robinson earned All-Catholic honors in the Central Division, while Justin Barrows and Sean Covington were named to the All-League team and Dan Furlong was named to the All-Academic team.

“They are very deserving of those honors,” Porritt said.

St. Mary’s hosted Detroit Finney on Tuesday, March 1 after press time and will welcome Detroit Pershing Friday, March 4 for the regular-season finale.

The Eaglets will then face either Farmington or Walled Lake Western in a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) district semi-final at Farmington on Wednesday, March 9. The district final is Friday, March 11.

“We have to play hard and get better, especially on offense with getting the ball inside,” Porritt said.