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Not all the noise in basketball at Orchard Lake was being raised by the St. Mary's College varsity. The high school boys had their say too. In fact, they beat the College to the punch by two days as far as the first game ever played at the Lake is concerned. On December 17, 1913, the Prepmen easily defeated Pontiac High by a score of 21-8. Jack Karwowski led the Eaglets and Elton Rynearson was the coach.

The late start of basketball may be traced to the fact that previous to this time, the spacious gymnasium was used as a dormitory for the High School boys. When the Seminarians left the old Barracks for their new quarters, the High School boys removed their belongings from the gym to the abandoned Barracks. With the gym left vacant, basketball made its appearance at St. Mary's. Basketball made rapid headway among the High School lads and before long were boasting of some very fine players and teams that were the bane of the county.

The Eaglets had a 5-2 record that first year. They also defeated Pontiac Central Methodist Episcopal Church, 41-16, Detroit Cass Tech, 44-8, Detroit University School , 37-35, and the St. Louis Y, 30-13. In a return match, the Eaglets lost to Central Methodist Episcopal, 34-33, and then lost to Ypsilanti Normal (now Eastern Michigan University), 41-9.

During the 1914-1915 season, the Red and White had a 5-3 record. The Eaglets had a couple of key wins over Detroit U of D High, 46-14 and 47-6.

An accomplishment not seen today in high school basketball was turned in by St. Mary's in the 1918-1919 season. The Eaglets rolled through the regular season 5-0, defeated Mt. Pleasant High 5-4 in the Regional Final and entered the states first Class B Tournament where the Eaglets played three games in one day, defeating Grand Haven, 16-12, Crosswell, 14-12, before dropping a 13-12 contest to Greenville High School in the State Semifinal. The Eaglets finished 8-1 for the season.

Coached by Roy Biernacki, the Eaglets came up with one of the state's stronger teams in 1921-1922. So strong in fact, that after being invited into the Detroit Catholic League at the season's beginning, the Eaglets were forced to leave the league in the middle of the season due to the bombing of all their opponents in the first round of the league's schedule. The Eaglets defeated Detroit Holy Name, 32-11, U of D High, 23-8,
Windsor Assumption, 13-8, Detroit Holy Rosary, 38-13, and powerful Detroit Holy Redeemer, 56-5. The unjust removal from the league left U of D High as the eventual champion. The Eaglets finished the season with a 13-1 record, with their only loss coming at the hands of Pontiac High, 32-16.

Rev. Leo Malinowski's golden touch was evident on the high school scene during his two years as coach in 1925-1926 and 1926-1927. During his first year as coach, Orchard Lake breezed through the season with a 13-4 record which included the District Championship. The Eaglets lost to Detroit Holy Redeemer, 20-17, in the Regionals. The following year, Orchard Lake won 13 of 18 games, a District and Regional title before Grand Haven defeated St. Mary's, 27-19, in the Class B Quarterfinals.

Rev. Andrew Wotta, two years after completing a stellar collegiate career, succeeded his former coach and continued a string of State Tournament titles. Four years running, from 1927 through 1931, his teams won both the District and Regional titles, compiling an overall record of 36-14.

Fr. Wotta's 1929 saw the Eaglets lose to Stambaugh from the Upper Peninsula in the State Semifinals, 21-15, which his 1930 Eaglets lost to Negaunee High in the Class B State Championship, 31-25, at the Olympia in Detroit , before one of the largest crowds to witness an interscholastic clash in the State of Michigan .

Fr. Wotta's Eaglets finally reached the pinnacle of the State Tournament grind in 1933 by winning the Class C State Championship. That year, St. Mary's Eaglets won 22 games and lost 1, 19-17, to Pontiac High. The Eaglets defeated Holly, 32-21, for the District Title, and again for the Regional Crown, 33-14. (Both Champion and Runners-Up advanced at that time). St. Mary's defeated Caro, 34-30, in the Quarterfinals, Lansing St. Mary, 21-19, in the Semifinal game, and Boyne City , 32-8, in the State Championship game. Oddly enough, the final game was by far Orchard Lake 's easiest game on the pressure-packed tournament trail.

The good fortune rolled in to the 1934-35 season under Coach Ed Skrzycki, as the high school prepmen worked for a 12-3 record, while beating archrival Pontiac High, 24-9. Rev. Msgr. Alexander Cendrowski took over the coaching job in 1935 and had a 10-6 season that year. He won the District Championship in 1937, defeating Holly, 37-23.

Two losing seasons preceded Orchard Lake 's rise to prominence in 1940-41 when the Eaglets defeated New Hudson High, 31-13, for the District Title, Detroit St. Gertrude, 36-22, for the Regional Championship, then losing in the Quarterfinals to Flint Michigan
School for the Deaf on a last second shot, 32-31.

In 1942, Coach Bruno Neumann led the Eaglets to a 12-1 mark which included a District Championship over local archrival Keego Harbor Roosevelt, 31-29. The 1942-43 Eaglets also brought the school a District Trophy by defeating Holly, 31-30, under Coach Neumann.

After a 21 year absence from the Catholic League, the Eaglets would compete for the Crown in the 1943-1944 season. This was a great squad that Coach Neumann had been grooming for years. Their nickname, “The Korpz”, came from the first letters of their last names: Krolczyk, Osowski, Rakoczy, Piascik, and Ziemba. Together they blazed their way to the Catholic League Second Division Title and a District Crown.

In 22 games, the squad poured in 990 points, 45 points per game. Their opponents averaged just 19. Mt. Clemens St. Mary 's was destroyed, 80-9, a season high. Troy Big Beaver High School came close to matching that, losing to the Eaglets, 79-4. Detroit St. Francis de Sales was stung twice, 56-14 and 74-17. The team's principal antagonist in the latter game was a cool, dead-eye shot named John Rakoczy. To the awe of his opponents, he ripped the cords for 54 points in three quarters of play, an all-time high at Orchard Lake . His record stood until 1969, when Tim Megge, coached by Fr. John Rakoczy, broke the record with 56 points.

In the Catholic League Championship game, the Eaglets proved they were there to stay by defeating Detroit St. Ambrose, 39-25. The Eaglets also completed an undefeated season for the first time since 1920 with a 17-0 record.

After rolling through the District Tournament with a 28-23 District Championship over Keego Harbor Roosevelt, 28-23, the Eaglets ran into St. Clair Shores Lakeview and were upset in the Regional Final, 37-18.

Since the Eaglets have joined the Catholic High School League, they have won 21 Sectional Titles, 6 Catholic League Championships, and have played for the Catholic League Championship 6 other times in their history.

In Catholic League Sectional competition, the Eaglets have won 423 games and lost 156 since 1943. The Eaglets' record for 83 years of basketball is tremendous. The Eaglets have won 1044, lost 494, with 1 tie. This includes 32 District Title, 13 Regional Championships, 9 Final Four appearances, 3 State Championships and 2 Runner-Up Trophies.

Prep Basketball

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