Friday's Finest

Taking a look at some of Friday;s top performances in Oakland County:

Boys Basketball:
- Allen Robinson, Orchard Lake Saint Mary’s
Robinson went off in the second quarter of the Eaglets 57-47 win over U-D Jesuit, scoring 11 in the frame en route to a 29 point night. Robinson brought everyone out of their seats in the second frame with a highlight reel dunk that put the Eaglet up by eight. Robinson added in clutch shooting from the free-throw line, draining 9-12 attempts in the fourth quarter and making 14-18 for the game.

-Samer Ozeir,  Novi
Ozeir’s 31 points was just enough for the Wildcats to outlast South Lyon in overtime. Ozeir drilled 10 of his 12 free throw attempts, leading the Wildcats their 10th win of the season.

-Chris Dewberry,  Waterford Mott
Dewberry did all he could to keep the Corsairs alive against KLAA North foe Walled Lake Northern. Dewberry dropped in 25 points including an impressive sharp-shooting display from the outside, making five 3-pointers in Mott’s 61-53 loss.

-Lindsay Hunter,  Southfield Christian
The junior guard came played out of his mind in the second half, dropping 26 points on undefeated Oakland Christian in the second half alone. Hunter finished with a game-high 32 points, but Southfield Christian came up on the losing end despite Hunter’s amazing performance.

Girls Basketball:
-Gabby Yurik, Stoney Creek
Yurik proved once agin why whe is one of the top players in the county. Yurik knocked down eight of 10 free throws while showing off her range, dropping in four 3-pointers on her way to 28 points in Stoney Creek’s 52-41 win over North Farmington

Erika Hill, Bloomfield Hills Andover
-Hill dominated much of the game on her way to 25 points while pouring in four 3-pointera as Andover cruised to a 50-38 win over Birmingham Seaholm

-Jackie Bieniewicz, Madison Heights Bishop Foley
Bieniewicz tallied 26 points with plenty of help from the outside as she found the bottom of the net five times from behind the arc in Bishop Foley’s 53-48 loss to Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard

Hockey:
-Jake Petsch, Milford
Petsch stood on his head in net for the Mavericks, turning away 35 of the 38 shots Walled Lake Western sent his way preserving a 3-3 tie for Milford.

The Week Ahead

Some of the best boys and girls basketball match-ups in Oakland County for the week ahead:

Thursday, January 27th
Clarkston @ West Bloomfield (Boys)
Thursday night will feature an interesting game to see if West Bloomfield and keep up their remarkable start to their league play, the Lakers have proven that they can play with the best, knocking off two of Oakland County’s best in Southfield (64-63) and Pontiac (74-63). Senior Spencer Parker has been an absolute monster all season long for the Lakers, making everyone aware of that against Pontiac where Parker flat out took it to another level, putting up 34 points and tearing down 15 rebounds. The Lakers will host Clarkston, who has gotten off to a slow start but seem to have gotten back on track, winning three of their last four including Monday’s 66-35 thumping of North Farmington.

Friday, January 28th
Novi Detroit Catholic Central @ Birmingham Brother Rice
The last time these two teams played, the Shamrocks wasted no time throwing the hammer down on rival Brother Rice in the second half en route to Catholic Central’s impressive 62-43 win. It should be interesting to see if the Warriors can slow down the Shamrock’s own Mr. Big Shot Shea Kettner, who broke the hearts of another rival Saint Mary’s less than a week ago, banking in a 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving Catholic Central a 55-54 win.

Tuesday, February 1st:
Lakeland @ Waterford Kettering (Girls)
Next Tuesday’s match-up between Waterford Kettering and Lakeland will definitely be the game of the week for a number of reasons, both teams remain very much in the hunt for the KLAA North division and Lakeland will be looking to avenge a heart-breaking 32-31 loss in overtime at the hands of the Captains back on January 11th thanks to clutch shooting from Danielle Bohn and Allison Bicknell. There is no doubt that Eagles standout center Stephanie Lock and Lakeland will be out for revenge next Tuesday as they look to gain ground on the unbeaten Captains.

Keeping it Simple

Since I’m still new to the world of blogging, I thought we’d keep it simple this time around, going over the basketball conference I’ve been able to keep a close eye on over the past two seasons. I’ll take a look at some of the top boys teams from Oakland County that reside in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association.

Novi

Even though they suffered their first loss of the season last week to Livonia Stevenson, the Wildcats remain one of the teams to beat in the KLAA. Behind standout senior Samer Ozeir’s 19 points and 12 rebounds per game, Novi has stormed out to a 9-1 start. The Wildcats are easily one of, if not the best rebounding team in the conference because of their unmatched size with 6-8 Ozeir, 6-7 Chris Milon and 6-5 Rob Laney averaging almost 30 rebounds per contest between the three of them. The Wildcats have won in a number of ways en route to eight of their nine wins coming by double digits.

Walled Lake Central

Lately, there hasn’t been a hotter team in the KLAA than the 9-2 Walled Lake Central Vikings, shedding the thought that this may be a rebuilding year for head coach Denny Butcher and company. Instead, it’s been the exact opposite as Central hasn’t missed a beat after suffering two tough losses to Novi and Milford, the Vikings have run off six straight wins and starting off their division play with a 5-0 mark. Thanks to the emergence of seniors Adam Coric and Hayden Coe, Central has found their touch offensively. Since their last loss to Milford, where the Vikings only mustered 24 points and shot just 23 percent from the floor, Central has outscored their opponents by 61 points during their six game win streak.

Waterford Mott

Right behind the Vikings in the North division is Waterford Mott, a team that has been flying under the radar as of late. The Corsairs have overcome a slow start this season plagued by turnovers and mistakes because of their inexperience and have found consistency, thanks in part to junior standout Chris Dewberry averaging 18 points per game winning 4 of their last 6.

Waterford Kettering

The Captains have struggled to find their groove as of late on offense, failing to reach 35 points in two of their past three games, but Kettering has been able to hold their own defensively. If the Captains can find the offensive form they were in at the beginning of the season, they could be a force to be reckoned with as the season winds down.

Lakeland

Now that the Eagles have started to cut down on their turnovers, they can get down to business as they look to push their way back to the top of the North division. With a senior laden back court and the hard nosed style they’re known for, head coach Bob Brugger’s crew should make some noise in the division before all is said and done.

Dullack's Prospects: Inaugural Post

Welcome to the first edition of Dullack’s Prospects here I’ll take a closer look at the prep sports scene in Oakland County, while keeping an eye on the recruiting scene for the County’s top college prospects. Since we’re just two weeks away from national signing day, I thought we’d kick off the inaugural entry of Dullack’s Prospects by running down some of Oakland County’s top football recruits that have already made their verbal commitments and take a look at where they are heading:

*All commitments and statistics were confirmed by Rivals.com or ESPNU

Valdez Showers DB, Madison Heights Madison:

Showers has already given a verbal commitment to the University of Florida back in August of 2010, finished off last season with 28 tackles and three interceptions on defense while going over the 2,000 yard mark and scoring 29 touchdowns at running back. Showers projects as a defensive back under new head coach Will Muschamp and company.

Kenny Knight WR, Country Day

Knight, who committed to Illinois back on New Year’s Eve, in 2009, Knight grabbed 28 balls for 561 yards and followed that up with his 2010 campaign where he went for 530 yards and seven touchdowns leading his team to a 9-1 mark. Knight’s 6’4” frame should make for a good fit playing in a physical Big 10 conference.

Jake Duzey WR/TE, Troy Athens

Depending on who you ask, Duzey either projects at the college level as a tight end or wide receiver, but one thing is for sure, Duzey will serve as a big target for Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes for the next couple of years. Duzey capped off his 2010 season with 37 catches for 535 yards earning him a Division 1 All-State selection.

Tim Hamilton LB, Brother Rice

Hamilton, who made his decision all the way back in June of 2010, is one of three Oakland County players to have already made a commitment to Dan Enos’ Central Michigan squad. Hamilton will rejoin former linebacking mate Justin Cherocci at Central. Hamilton and Cherocci made for one of the best defensive tandems in the state when the both played together in 2009. Hamilton followed up a 155 tackle 2009 season with 99 tackles and four sacks in 2010.

Allen Robinson WR, Orchard Lake Saint Mary’s

Robinson made his commitment to join his former quarterback Robert Bolden at Penn State in November. Robinson caught 50 balls for 800 yards to go along with an impressive 17 touchdowns in the 2010 season where his team’s season ended in the Division 3 State Championship game.