ROYAL OAK >> Despite the urge to talk about cliches, Troy Athens simply did what it needed to do Wednesday night, putting forth a lockdown defensive effort to knock off rival Troy, 53-44, to put itself in a position to play for a district championship Friday night.

The Red Hawks had fallen to the Colts twice earlier this season — both times in Oakland Activities Association White play. But in their most recent battle, Athens trailed the Colts by nine heading into the fourth quarter. Coach Mitchell Vercellino’s team battled back but fell four points shy in a 69-65 loss.

“After each of the (first two) games, I felt like we kept building, learning,” Vercellino said. “The first game, we didn’t play well but we learned something from it. Then, the second game, it was closer and I think we took something from that game into this one.”

This time around Athens led the Colts, 35-34, entering the final quarter. But unlike the last game, the Red Hawks scored the first six points of the fourth quarter while their defense stifled a potent Colts offense.

“Once they got up five or six points there in the fourth quarter, I wouldn’t say we quit, but we’d get a basket and then give up an easy one to them inside,” Troy head coach Gary Fralick said. “We needed to get three stops in a row but we just couldn’t do it.”

Troy had temporary moments in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, but that’s all they were — temporary moments. Senior Andrew Lake hit a floating jumper for Troy’s first points of the fourth quarter. But junior Nathan Johnson split a pair of free throws on Athens’ next possession to bump the lead back to six points.

The Colts would hit a pair of free throws to once again cut the lead back to four points. And again, Athens had an immediate answer as senior Corban Crum drove baseline for a layup. After a defensive stop, Crum hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead back to eight points.

That was essentially the game.

“I have to credit my defense tonight,” Vercellino said. “I feel like we’re defense first. If you’re going to come up clutch in the fourth quarter, you’ve got to start it with your defense.”

Vercellino highlighted the play of senior point guard, Jason Bouna.

“(Jason) played a phenomenal game,” the coach said. “Defensively, he guarded Mason (Parker) and he was cool, calm and collected on the offensive side.”

Bouna scored 10 points but it was his defensive effort against Parker that had everyone talking. Parker finished with a game-high 21 points, but scored just seven after halftime, including a lone 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

“We knew that we had momentum coming into this game,” Bouna said. “We prepared. We worked really, really hard. We did all the little things right. When a team plays together like we did tonight, it’s really tough to beat. Just by working together and everyone doing the little things they could, that’s how we got this win.

“I was very confident in my team. I knew I just had to do my job and not let Mason score. And everyone else did their job, too.”

Crum had 18 points to lead Athens (8-15), which will face Royal Oak in the district championship game Friday, back at Royal Oak High School. Brennen Tucker added nine points for the Red Hawks.

Andrew Lake had 13 points for Troy (10-13).

“It’s hard to coach against any team, but it’s certainly not any easier coaching against a team for a third time, especially when you’ve beaten them the first two times,” Fralick said. “You could just tell, they were pumped. They played better than we did tonight. Give them credit. They are a well-coached team and they executed what they wanted to execute. They were able to get to the basket more than we wanted them to.”

Vercellino had confidence in his seniors, who he has coached each of the past three years. He coached the group as a junior varsity coach two years ago before coaching them as a varsity assistant last year. Now, in his first year as the Red Hawks’ head coach, he has this group playing for a district title.

“I have a lot of trust in them and they have a lot of trust in me,” Vercellino said. “It was really good to see the trust pay off tonight.”

Athens and Royal Oak did not face off in the regular season. The Ravens (14-9) finished alone in fourth place in the OAA Blue. Tip-off for Friday’s game will be 7 p.m.

Royal Oak 58, Berkley 38

The host Ravens dominated the second half, outsourcing the Bears, 36-14, to pull away for a district semifinal victory.

Junior Sam Zeller scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead Royal Oak (14-9 overall).

Senior Nick Hofmann had 13 points for the Ravens while senior CJ Hairston added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in their team’s win.

Jacob Friedman and Drew Sermo each had nine points to lead Berkley (6-18).