Troy, Southfield, Lathrup Village

Southfield-Lathrup boys basketball beats Troy High in final second

By Christian Davis
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Deb Jacques Southfield-Lathrup guard Jonathan Williams looks for some open space against Troy High Feb. 1 at home. Williams hit a game-winning shot to give the Chargers the 76-74 victory. Photo by Deb Jacques Southfield-Lathrup guard Jonathan Williams looks for some open space against Troy High Feb. 1 at home. Williams hit a game-winning shot to give the Chargers the 76-74 victory.

LATHRUP VILLAGE — It came down, literally, to the final second, but Southfield-Lathrup boys basketball bested Troy High 76-74 in an Oakland Activities Association Red Division tilt Feb. 1 at home.

Lathrup senior guard Jonathan Williams hit a pull-up jumper with less than a second remaining for the victory.

"I've been working hard this week on those shots, and it paid off today," Williams said.

Troy started the game near flawless, jumping to a 24-13 lead after the first quarter with Williams going to the bench early in the frame with foul trouble.

Even with their leading scorer out, the Chargers were able to cut the lead to 34-31 at the half.

“Mainly, we started running, which is how we like to play anyways," Lathrup coach Desmond Denham said of his team's comeback. "Once we started running, our bench was a little deeper, and I thought we’d wear them down a little bit. That’s what we do. When we don’t run, we don’t play well.”

Troy coach Gary Fralick said the inconsistent play has plagued his team all season.

"We do play hard, though. We were going after the loose balls. Unfortunately, they came up with more of them," he said.

Troy trailed by three points with 11 seconds to play when Joe Leonard hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 74, setting up Williams' game-winner.

"The only thing I might have done different was double team him," Fralick said. "When we hit that 3-pointer, I decided to stay with our defense and hope he missed, but it didn't work out for us."

Williams finished with a game-high 25 points, scoring the Chargers' final 12, and totaled 18 in the fourth quarter.

With the win, Lathrup moves to 6-9 overall and 3-3 in the division. Troy is 5-8 overall and 3-4 in the league.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Christian Davis at cdavis@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1062. Follow Christian on Twitter.