Groves Escapes With 40-37 Win Over Royal Oak

ROYAL OAK – coach Scott Sheckell had a simple question after his team’s game at Royal Oak on Friday night.

“Do you know CPR?” he asked, smiling.

The Falcons needed some clutch free throws in the final minute to hold on to their three-point lead and escape with a 40-37 win over the Royal Oak Ravens in an Oakland Activities Association Gold division matchup.

Royal Oak had two chances to tie game in the final 20 seconds, but both fell short.

With 9.5 seconds left, Joel Gorbold turned the ball over trying to hit Martel Porter cutting to the basket. Gorbold threw the ball too high and it went sailing out of bounds. On the Ravens final possession, Gorbold missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. 

It was a fitting end for a Royal Oak team that really struggled on the offensive end of the floor.

“There’s a movie The Good, Bad and the Ugly, well you take out the good and that would be the movie The Bad and the Ugly,” Royal Oak coach Michael Massucci said of his team’s offensive performance. 

The Ravens (7-7; 2-3 OAA Gold) were 5-of-15 from the free throw line and only 2-of-19 from 3-point range.

“Offensively we couldn’t find the basket,” Massucci said.

Royal Oak had better success in the second have going inside to Martel Porter and Gorbold. The duo combined for 18 of 22 points in the second half.

“He’s great, he’s one of the better players we’ve face all year and we aren’t very big,” Sheckell said of Porter. 

Porter, who was the only Ravens player in double-digits with 12 points, scored eight in the fourth quarter to keep the game within one possession.

Groves' (6-8; 4-1 OAA Gold) biggest lead of the second half was 37-32 midway through the fourth. Porter single-handedly tied the game with back-to-back layups and a free throw.

The Falcons weren’t able to get out to a bigger lead because they had struggles of their own offensively.

Turnovers plagued Groves throughout the game. Groves players were called for nearly a half-dozen traveling violations in the first half and in the second half gave away some key possessions with offensive fouls.

“We’re very young,” Sheckell said. “The kids have to grow up very fast, we only had one player (Grant Henderson) out of 15 with any varsity experience.”

It was Henderson who helped settle his team down with a 3-pointer with 4:30 left in the fourth quarter to put the Falcons up 35-32.

When Royal Oak tied the game at 37-37, it was Henderson who hit two free throws to give his team a lead with 1:14 to go. He finished with a game-high 14 points.

“It was a big win for us, keeps us tied at the top of the league,” Sheckell said. “We’ll take it.”