ROYAL OAK >> Lucy Freytag poured in 34 points and host Royal Oak rolled to a 65-28 win over Warren Mott in Wednesday’s D1 district semifinal.

The Ravens swarmed all over the Marauders early as Mott seemed to struggle with the Royal Oak press and the Ravens used their defense to fuel their fast break. Royal Oak recorded nine steals in the first period alone, including four by Hannah Saunders, and raced to a 17-0 lead before a 3-pointer from Conamora Ndana got Warren Mott on the board with just over two minutes to play in the opening period.

The Marauders played better in the second period, and even cut their deficit to 10 points on two occasions, the last one being 29-19 late in the first half as the Mott started breaking the press more regularly.

“Pat (Schmidt, Marauders head coach) does a great job with that team,” Ravens head coach Brian Sopata said. “The second quarter was an even game, so it served as a reminder that you have to play 32 (minutes). I loved our start obviously. We were focused, ready to go, and then I thought we closed. We came out in the third quarter and played really well, too.”

“I was very proud that my kids didn’t quit. We actually cut it to 10, but we were a little shorthanded tonight,” Schmidt said.

But Royal Oak had another huge run in store, again fueled by Freytag. The Ravens would go on a 26-3 blitz that lasted from late in the second quarter until late in the third quarter, with Freytag scoring 14 points in the run and 18 points in the third quarter alone.

By the end of the third quarter, the Ravens had emptied their bench and gotten everyone into the game. And the Royal Oak bench was also very productive. Virtually everyone the Ravens put in got on the stat sheet somewhere, and the Raven bench actually had more rebounds than the Royal Oak starters, with Dimyah Jackson and Chelsea Thelen combining for 12 rebounds by themselves. Seven different Ravens scored at least four points.“I’m real happy with the way our kids played (tonight). I thought we had a ton of kids as a team that stepped up and were ready to go,” Sopata said.

Ndana led the Marauders with 15 points.

Royal Oak (12-11) moves on to face rival Berkley in today’s district final. The Ravens won the first meeting with the Bears this season back in early February.

“It’s a great rivalry. (Bears head coach Clay Shaver) does a great job with that team, and we’re going to be ready to go (tonight),” Sopata said.

Warren Mott finishes the year 13-9 overall and MAC Silver champions, which was the program’s first division title since 2010.

“I’m proud of the season we had. It’s not the finish we wanted, but we accomplished a lot this year,” Schmidt said. “I’m proud of the effort, and we keep moving forward.” He added that, “The future is bright. We just have to keep working.”