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Billy Thomas lifts North Farmington over Rochester Adams in final seconds

Rochester Adams senior David Rinke misses a free throw in the fourth quarter. North Farmington defeated Rochester Adams 61-56 Tuesday night.
Rochester Adams senior David Rinke misses a free throw in the fourth quarter. North Farmington defeated Rochester Adams 61-56 Tuesday night.

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich.- Senior guard Billy Thomas was feeling it Tuesday night as he and the North Farmington Raiders (11-2, 4-1 OAA Red) came from behind in the final minute to beat Rochester Adams (10-2, 2-2 OAA Red) 61-56.

Thomas finished the game with 23 points but the biggest shot of the night came with 5.2 left on the clock. Senior guard Jacob Joubert was able to find a wide-open Thomas who hit a 3-pointer to seal the victory for North Farmington.

“He (Thomas) came off of a handoff and turned the corner and was wide open,” North Farmington head coach Todd Negoshian said. “We didn’t shoot the ball real well but we made the ones that mattered down the stretch.”

North Farmington struggled early and didn't sho0t the ball well. Despite the Raiders shooting the ball poorly they were able to keep the game close trailing 39-27 at halftime. Thomas was able to help keep the Raiders in the game by scoring 11 of his 23 points in the first half.

“I didn’t think we were playing with a lot of energy,” Negoshian added on the first half. “We weren’t prepared early on, it was ugly for us for awhile.”

The Raiders were able to trim the lead to 50-41 at the end of the third quarter thanks to a lay-up at the buzzer by Thomas.

The Raiders went on a 12-4 run in the fourth quarter to cut the lead down to 54-53 when Joubert hit two 3-pointers with 2:10 left. Rochester Adams senior forward Adam Slating was able to hit two free throws to push the lead back to 56-53.

North Farmington senior guard Josh Hogans finally got on the board when he tied the game 56-56 with 1:21 left. North Farmington was able to force a turnover and dribble the clock all the way down to 5.2 seconds. Thomas hit the 3-pointer to give the Raiders the lead for good.

“We knew if we could just keep getting stops, everything else would just play itself out,” Negoshian added.

Joubert was able to finish the game with 13 points and senior guard Amauri Hardy added 12 for the Raiders. Senior forward Alex Darden had a nice game defensively with a block and 16 rebounds.

Despite the loss, Rochester Adams still had four players finish in double figures. Senior guard Spencer Littleson finished with 18 points, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. Senior guard Joey Ziniti had 12 points, senior forward David Rinke added 11 points and senior guard Micheal Girdler finished with 10 points.

North Farmington will hit the road to take on Bloomfield Hills (8-3, 4-0 OAA White) Friday, Feb. 5 at 7p.m.

Rochester Adams will try to get back on track when they head out to face Pontiac (12-1, 4-1 OAA White) Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.

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