WEST BLOOMFIELD >> Orchard Lake St. Mary’s coach Brad Crighton expects a high standard of play from his Eaglets, especially with it being playoff time.

So, when his team committed turnovers on four consecutive possessions in the first half of its district semifinal against Walled Lake Northern, Crighton called a timeout to get his team back on track.

The message was heard loud and clear, as the Eaglets would turn an 11-8 advantage into a 26-10 halftime lead and eventually go on to pick up a 70-32 victory.

“I just think we didn’t respond to the pressure very well. We were making soft passes, and I just wanted to calm them down a little and get them focused,” Crighton said of the timeout. “We’re still a young team, so sometimes that happens, but the girls got the message and responded well.”

Though the offense had some early lapses, the OLSM defense was locked in throughout the game. It held the Knights to just three field goals in the opening half while creating a lot of transition points that gradually extended the lead.“The defense showed up,” Crighton said. “That never wavered throughout the whole game, so that was good to see.”

The Eaglet defense also disrupted a lot of Walled Lake Northern shots. The Knights had some positive defensive stretches of their own during the game, but couldn’t manage to consistently knock down shots to keep the score close. Northern finished without a made 3-pointer in the contest.

“We didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight. We haven’t shot the ball that bad all year,” Walled Lake Northern coach Josh Pees said. “Give (OLSM) credit, they defended us well and made us take some tough shots. We just couldn’t get the ball in the hoop.”

The Eaglets (18-4) built up a nearly 30-point lead in the third before the Knights put together another surge to cut the lead to 22 at 44-22.

“They have been a resilient team all year, Pees said. “We didn’t shoot a lot of good things in this game and we played with the effort I expected to see.”

From there, it seemed as if OLSM didn’t miss. They would hit eight 3-pointers in the half, including six in the fourth quarter thanks to their ability to push the pace with the ball.

“We don’t play a lot of girls, but we have them well conditioned,” Crighton said. “At this time of year, you have to be. Our girls are comfortable with a faster tempo and it opens up our whole offense, which I think you saw tonight.”

Sophomore Allie Crighton and senior Stella Poota led the offensive charge, combining for 50 points and nine 3-pointers in the win. Crighton had 27, while Poota scored 23.

The two will hope for a similar effort today when they take on West Bloomfield in the district final at 6 p.m. The Lakers are the defending D1 state champs and have won two of the last three titles, finishing runner-up in 2023. On Wednesday, the Lakers defeated Lakeland 54-46 in the other semifinal.

“(Today) is going to be a tough game,” Crighton said. “We know West Bloomfield is a great team, so we have a challenge ahead of us, but I think the girls are excited for that challenge.”

Northern was led by senior Macie Hunter, who had 10 points. Senior Amal Younes added eight.

The Knights finish the season 15-9.

“Overall, I thought we had a great season. We were above .500 for the third straight season,” Pees said. “We’re building something here that hasn’t been built before. We’re just trying to keep that growing.”