SCOTT M BURNSTEIN

Special to The Oakland Press

ROCHESTER HILLS - Rochester Adams senior Joey Dillon has been nothing but money all school year long. And we're not talking about his bank account either. No matter what his sport of choice, Dillon has come through in the clutch when his team has needed him the most on numerous occasions.

Dillon, a six-foot point guard on Adams' boys basketball team, stepped to the forefront once again on Friday night in a cross-town showdown with Stoney Creek, playing huge in the critical fourth quarter and sparking the Highlanders to an intensely competitive 58-51 victory played in front of an electric Adams home crowd.

Delivering his usual dose of composure and timelines, Dillon scored ten of his team-high 15 points in the game's final seven minutes. He also handed out seven assists, grabbed five rebounds and came up with a pair of momentum-seizing steals in the closing 90 seconds of the contest to sew things up. Connor Boyle, Dillon's backcourt mate, also tallied 15 points for Adams.

A two year-starter on the hardwood, Dillon was the leading scorer on a Highlanders' soccer team that advanced all the way to the Division One Final Four this past fall and is committed to play soccer in college at Georgetown.  

"Stoney Creek was focusing a lot of its defensive attention on Connor (Boyle) and Jordan (Littleson) tonight and I took advantage of it," Dillon said of his performance. "I got a couple of easy buckets and worked my way to the free throw line. As a team we took good shots and limited our turnovers and that's why we won."

Although the fiercely-contested battle of rivals was close throughout, Adams had the lead for virtually the entire game.  Emotions bubbled over on several occasions as four technical fouls were assessed and Cougars head coach, Ken Belote was tossed from the game midway through the third quarter for arguing calls.

Stoney Creek took its first and only lead of the contest at 35-34, less than a minute into the fourth quarter on Alex Jones' mid-range pull-up jumper that brought the Cougars vivacious student cheering section to a crescendo.

But Dillon made certain the Stoney Creek faithful had little time to bask in their celebration and promptly reeled off six straight points that effectively silenced the visitor's grandstand. After he intercepted a Cougars pass – disrupting a two-on-one break that looked to be a certain Stoney Creek – and sank a pair of free throws, Adams was in front 52-43 with a little over a minute remaining.

The Cougars (11-3) got the Adams lead back down to two-possessions, at 54-49, with 25 seconds left on the clock and had the ball, however, Dillon swiped another Stoney Creek pass and converted two more free throws to dismantle the rally.

"He can dominate a game without scoring a lot of points and that's a true sign of a great player," said Highlanders head coach, John Hall of Dillon's major league-outing following the chippy-affair. "He stayed calm and composed and kept the team calm and composed when everyone else, including myself, was starting to lose their tempers. All the guards played great tonight for us. The defense was really active and the offense played under control. It's a super win."

Sporting an 11-3 overall record, the Highlanders have now beaten Stoney Creek twice this season and are 7-2 in conference play in the Oakland Activities Association White Division. They are currently tied for a second place with Lake Orion and head to Troy Athens on Tuesday for their next game.

Jake Fortner led Stoney Creek with 12 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Hammett added 11 points and nine rebounds for Adams.