ROCHESTER HILLS — Royal Oak Shrine was already feeling good about itself with a six-point lead early in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s CHSL Ste. Anne championship against Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes.
But when Owen Wisniewski picked the ball off a Laker then threw it down for a two-handed slam with five minutes to go, Oakland University’s O’rena erupted.
Following a 3-pointer by Latane Ware that cut the lead to four points, Wisniewski countered with Shrine’s next seven points, including the dunk, that gave the Knights the game’s first double-digit lead and helped them go on and beat the Lakers 41-28.
“That was really cool,” said Wisniewski, who has been dealing with an ankle sprain since the first few weeks of the season. “Especially getting to do it in front of the student section. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get up there, but we got it, and I’m really glad I got that.”
The Lakers couldn’t buy a bucket after Ware’s three, going without another field goal for the game’s final seven minutes. They had over a handful of looks from beyond the arc over the last four minutes, but couldn’t make any, including three in a row after snagging a pair of offensive boards. Meanwhile, Shrine collected a couple of its own misses late that made it even easier to go into a holding pattern offensively until the final horn.
Shrine finished the game much better than it started, to say the least. Its score read zero until junior Jaycee Foster’s finish in traffic with 1:05 left in the first quarter, putting an end to Our Lady of the Lakes’ 9-0 run to open things up.
That brought the Knights to life. Jack Tisko converted a layup the next possession, then senior Mike Bowker’s steal turned into points, and just like that, they trailed by just three at the end of the quarter.
For the Lakers, the second quarter went a lot like the fourth as Lukas Tedder stroked a 3-pointer to restore his team’s lead to six, then Lakes managed just two more points for the rest of the half, which ended with Shrine up 16-14 despite its rocky beginning.
“I was told we were 7 for 30 in the first half, but to be up (after it) was a credit to how we locked in,” Knights head coach Michael Maryanski said. “Our target day in and day out is our defense, so to be able to shoot not that great and be up at halftime, it was about our defensive intensity. Our shots were good shots, they just weren’t falling. We chart our bunnies, and we missed a lot of them. That’s a credit to them that they know to stick with it and it’ll still come, we just needed to start finishing. When we get to the rim, we’re really tough to play against.”
The Lakers appeared at their best when they manufactured touches for senior center Jack Miller (nine points), who they went to on the low block several times coming out of intermission to keep it close. But after Tisko and Lakes’ Lukas Tedder traded threes, Shrine went on an 8-0 run late in the third that included an old-fashioned 3-pointer by Tisko when he was fouled on a baseline leaner and a traditional three by Owen Bellows in front of his team bench.
Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes senior Alex Asai (2) shoots over Royal Oak Shrine’s Mike Bowker (10) in the second half of Saturday night’s 41-28 loss to the Knights. (BRYAN EVERSON – MediaNews Group)
On the effort to limit Miller, Maryanski said, “We try to dig more mid-side, and whoever’s digging is not on a great shooter. If you’re on one of their good shooters, don’t dig on them. And we know Jack’s gonna get it. It’s awesome, because (Lakers head coach Mike Miller) and I played a year or two of college basketball together, so to be able to compete against another former teammate, a brother, then Jack is Mike’s son, it’s awesome. It’s that brotherhood of rivalries in the Catholic League, and what better way to compete?”
He continued, “I also think we wore them down. We didn’t have to get into our bench, but our targets are to wear you down when we can.”
The scoring was well-distributed for Shrine. Tisko had a game-high 13 points and Wisniewski finished with seven, then Bellows had seven, while Foster and Bowker each chipped in six.
Shrine (14-6) also won 44-32 back on Dec. 9 when the teams clashed at the beginning of the season back in Waterford.
Meanwhile, the Lakers hadn’t (14-5) previously lost since Dec. 18 in Allen Park at Cabrini. Since that 59-50 defeat, their only in the Intersectional 2 Division, they’d rattled off 12 wins in a row, including the rematch with Cabrini, as well as beating Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in the league tourney quarterfinals.
Lakes’ last CHSL finals appearance was just two seasons ago, but the program’s last titles were won back-to-back in 2013-14 and ’14-15. Shrine won the following season to deny the Lakers a three-peat, then most recently in 2018-19.
“It’s fun,” Maryanski said. “This is a blessing. Last year, we won our first district title in 22 years, and then we made it to regional finals for, I think the first time in 40 (something) years. Now, this is the first time for a Catholic League title in seven, so these kids have written their story. Two of the seniors have been with us since they were freshmen, the other since sophomore year, so they’ve built this program with us.”
Lakes will still have a chance at revenge. The two sides will turn around and play again in a CSHL crossover on Thursday in Royal Oak.
“At the beginning of the year, a team backed out on them and we had an open date, so we’ll play them a third time, but I wish they were in the league with us,” Maryanski added. “Growing up in the Catholic League, Lakes, Shrine, it’s awesome to compete against each other.”