Sports
Berkley Girls Basketball Team Loses District Opener To Lathrup
The Bears fall apart in the third quarter, lose 55-34 in the first round of the playoffs on Monday.
SOUTHFIELD – What a difference a half makes.
(12-9) started the first round of girls basketball districts against heavily favored Southfield Lathrup with a 9-2 run in the first quarter. The Bears went into halftime happy to be down only two points to the host of the district.
But Lathrup weren’t the same team in the second half, and neither was Berkley.
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“I don’t think we came out in the second half with the same energy level,” Bears coach Jordan Gruppen said. “Things kind of fell apart for us in the second half.”
Lathrup established itself almost immediately in the third quarter. It switched to a full court press and senior captain Michele Hayes dominated on both ends of the floor. She helped her team outscore Berkley 22-5 in the quarter to help the Chargers advance with a 55-34 win.
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“We came out with a lack of focus, lack of discipline and not playing very hard,” Lathrup coach Michele Marshall said. “At half time, you go in give them a gentle (laughing) reminder of what’s this game is about and you see the real team come out in the second half.”
Hayes scored the first seven points of the quarter with back-to-back layups and a 3-pointer. The senior scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the third.
“Sometimes she doesn’t want to take over the game, she wants to get her teammates involved,” Marshall said. “But as she’s played well this season, we’ve played well this season. When she’s aggressive, we ride on her shoulders.”
She also made sure the Chargers' pressure defense produced results. The University of Toledo recruit forced Berkley’s guards to make a lot of mistakes. The turnovers led to a lot of transition baskets for Lathrup’s guards.
“The pressure got to us,” Gruppen said. “I don’t know if we were ready for it.”
The Bears lone field goal of the quarter came with only 1:09 left on the clock. The Chargers had a 41-22 advantage going into the fourth.
Lathrup advances to the district semifinals for a showdown with Oak Park on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
ended her basketball career for Berkley with a team-high 11 points, fellow senior Diamond Wilford added 9.
McCray didn’t get to finish the game on the court after she was shaken up attempting a layup with 27 seconds to go. The defender knocked McCray to the ground as she banked in her shot.
She wasn’t able to attempt the free throw and finished the game watching it from the end of the bench.
“I’m sure that was tough for her, but it was tough for all the seniors,” Gruppen said. “You never want to say goodbye, but we had a pretty good run here this season.”
