Lake Shore Boys Fall in Regional Opener; Huskies Also Bow Out

Despite a very valiant effort, Lake Shore’s boys basketball team saw its season come to an end Monday night with a district-opening 62-54 loss to Grosse Pointe South at South.

The defeat ends the Shorians' season.

“I’m so proud of my guys,” Lake Shore coach Todd Stevens said. “We didn’t give up tonight. We really didn’t. I’m just really proud of this team.”

Lake Shore battled back each time South made a run, closing the gap to as few as five points, 59-54, with less than one minute remaining in the final quarter.

“I really thought what killed us tonight was their ability to offensive rebound,” Stevens said. “I mean, numbers-wise, we didn’t give up as many as we have against other teams, but they just seemed to score on every one and that really hurt us tonight.”

A third-quarter spurt from the Blue Devils also hindered the Shorians' hope of  advancing to Wednesday night’s semifinal against East Detroit. South outscored the squad, 16-9, in the third and opened up a 47-34 lead heading into the final quarter.

The South surge came on the heels of a very hotly contested first half, one that concluded with a slim, 31-25, Blue Devils lead.

“We had nine turnovers in the first half and you can’t do that against a team like South,” Stevens said. “But we did a much better job in the second half, a much better job.”

Despite the outcome, Lake Shore’s effort impressed even the opposing coach, Dave Grauzer.

“I thought they (Lake Shore) played so hard, especially in the first half,” Grauzer said. “I didn’t think we matched their intensity in the first half at all. They played really hard tonight.”

The effort has been there for much of the season, Stevens said, regardless of whether the team won or lost the game.

“We went out there and fought every game,” Stevens said. “We really only had two or three bad losses, and over the course of a 20- or 21-game season, that’s pretty good. We played really hard every game and that’s what I ask of them. I really love every one of these guys on this team and I’m really going to miss these seniors. I really am.”

Lake Shore wrapped up the campaign 7-7 in the Macomb Area Conference Silver, and 9-12 overall.

Lakeview vs. North

In the first district game Monday night, Lakeview High fell to Grosse Pointe North, 48-36, in a contest that saw the Huskies keep the game within reach in the opening quarter, trailing 9-8. Then the Norsemen began to pull away after that, taking a 28-17 lead into the break.

Lakeview finished the year 5-9 in the Silver, 7-14 overall.