Raiders roll to OAA Red title on heals of tough loss, close wins By Mike Moore FARMINGTON HILLS — It may have been nothing more than another late-evening practice in mid-January, yet something was very different. Maybe it was the few extra laps the girls ran. Maybe it was the few extra jokes that went untold or the final frantic minutes of an inter-squad scrimmage that carried the intensity of a March playoff game. Whatever it was, it certainly worked for the North Farmington girls basketball team. “That was the best practice of the entire season,” senior guard Lyndsey Booker said last week recalling that particular practice. “We took off from there, got our act together and really built up what we are now.” Where they are roughly a month later is hanging a 2009-10 Oakland Activities Association Red Division championship banner. “The day before that practice was a disappointing loss for our team, and a game I really had to question the effort of our girls,” Raiders coach Tim Carruthers said of the 47-41 loss to Rochester High Jan. 20. “But in retrospect, that loss may have been the best thing that happened to us. It allowed us, or forced us, to refocus. It was that little wake-up call we needed.” The Raiders went a perfect 8-0 to close out the regular season, clinching the Red Division title with a 68-44 victory against Rochester on Feb. 23. “There are things over the course of a year, or during a big game, that you can’t control. Whether it’s a bad-shooting night or a team that just has your number, anything can happen,” Carruthers explained. “One thing you can always control is the effort you put forth. From that loss on, we harped on that.” The Raiders ended the regular season with a 17-3 overall record. The 2007-08 team won 23 games en route to the state semifinals. “One of the first goals we set before the year began was winning this division,” said senior Jenna Bachrouche, who played a major part of the Raiders’ 13-1 league record. “This is a huge deal to all of us. We believed we had the team to win in this league, and we found a way to make it happen.” But it wasn’t easy, at least not as easy as a 13-1 record may indicate. While the Raiders did enjoy big wins, in which the starters enjoyed the fourth quarter watching from the bench, a majority of their wins came by single digits. In fact, six of their 13 victories were by nine points or less, and three were by a single point. “I think I really got the sense of how good this team could be when we went to (Lathrup Village) Southfield-Lathrup and beat the favored team of the division in their own gym,” Carruthers said of a 61-54 victory in December. “That showed me what we were made of and gave these girls a lot of confidence. From that point on, whether we really took it to a team or we had to dig down and find a way to squeak one out, we found ways to win.” And moving forward, that’s the goal for the rest of the season, however long that may be. North Farmington began the Class A playoffs March 1 against district host West Bloomfield High, after press time. The semifinal is set for 5:30 p.m. March 3 against Farmington Hills Mercy. “Our other goal we talked about at the start of the season was winning a district title,” Bachrouche said with a laugh. “We’ve taken things one game at a time all season. Nothing will change now.” You can reach Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1038.
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