Financial security in retirement is a goal worth pursuing, but it’s one that a significant percentage of individuals feel is out of reach. According to a February 2024 report from the National Institute on Retirement Security, 55% of Americans are concerned they cannot achieve financial security in retirement.
Saving for retirement is an integral component of securing long-term financial security. There are many ways to save for retirement, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and employer-sponsored 401(k) plans are among the more popular ways investors build a nest egg for their golden years.
IRAs and 401(k) plans differ in some notable ways, and recognition of what distinguishes these types of accounts can help people choose the right vehicle for them. When considering these vehicles, it’s important to point out that contribution limits can change from year to year, so individuals can expect to increase their contributions in future years if they hope to maximize the allowable amounts.
The following breakdown, courtesy of US Bank, notes some key differences between a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA and a 401(k).
Traditional IRA
Eligibility: Anyone with earned income is eligible to open a traditional IRA.
Funding: A traditional IRA can be funded with after-tax dollars or as tax-deductible contributions.
Contribution limits: $7,000 annual limit in 2025, though individuals age 50 or older can contribute an additional $1,000 if they choose to do so.
Employer match: None.
Investment selection: Account holders can choose their own investments.
Roth IRA
Eligibility: Individuals aspiring to open a Roth IRA are urged to speak with a financial planner or accountant, as certain contribution criteria and tax filing requirements must be fulfilled.
Funding: A Roth IRA is funded with after-tax dollars.
Contribution limits: $7,000 annual limit in 2025, though individuals age 50 or older can contribute an additional $1,000 if they choose to do so.
Employer match: None.
Investment selection: Account holders can choose their own investments.
401(k)
Eligibility: Individuals are urged to speak with human resources professionals at their place of employment, as US Banks notes most employers have certain qualifications their workers must meet in order for them to participate in these plans. Those qualifications can vary between firms.
Funding: A 401(k) is funded with pre-tax dollars deducted directly from participants’ paychecks.
Contribution limits: The annual limit for 2025 is $23,500, though participants age 50 and older can contribute an additional $7,500.
Employer match: Some employers match employee contributions up to a certain percentage. Investopedia notes the average match was 4.5% in 2023.
Investment selection: Various portfolios may be offered, but those available are generally chosen by employers.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is warning the public not to come in contact with dead or sick birds, especially since there has been an uptick in wild fowl deaths from bird flu over the past two months.
The DNR has noted the increase in deaths primarily in Canada geese, trumpeter swans and scavenging birds.
The DNR said the bird flu warning is especially important for wild fowl hunters.
“While waterfowl hunters are much more likely to encounter wild birds, it’s important for all Michiganders to understand the health risks that bird flu can pose to wildlife, humans and domestic animals,” said Mitch Marcus, DNR wildlife health supervisor.
“The challenge with (wild) waterfowl is that they can be carriers but not appear sick,” he said.
The DNR does not have numbers to demonstrate the increase in bird flu deaths in wild waterfowl since December.
Bird flu, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, is a contagious disease that causes sickness and sometimes death in birds and mammals.
The virus can be spread through droppings or any interaction between farm-raised poultry and wild birds. It’s also easily tracked onto a farm on someone’s clothing or by vehicle.
Humans can contract the disease from infected animals or materials, but it doesn’t usually cause serious illness in people.
Hunters should take the following precautions to avoid contracting or spreading bird flu:
– Cook all meat to an internal temperature of 165 degrees to kill any viruses.
– Process wild birds in the field. Remains from processed birds should be buried on-site or double-bagged and disposed of with household trash.
– Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth while handling wild birds.
– Wear rubber or disposable gloves while handling and cleaning wild birds.
– Wash hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand cleanser, even if hands are not visibly soiled.
– Thoroughly clean and disinfect all knives, equipment and surfaces that come into contact with wild birds.
– Do not eat, drink or smoke while handling or cleaning wild birds.
Waterfowl hunters who care for domestic animals should take these steps:
– Keep domestic animals away from wild birds and dead birds.
– Keep domestic animals away from hunting apparel and footwear that has come into contact with wild birds or their mucus, saliva or feces.
– Cooking waterfowl meat to 165 degrees before feeding it to other animals.
– Shower after the hunt and before tending to domestic animals.
– Wash hands immediately before and after caring for animals.
– Don’t share equipment or other supplies between premises.
Earlier this month, six domestic birds at a farm at Hess-Hathaway Park in Waterford Township died; Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development officials tested them and found bird flu. MDARD euthanized the entire flock of about 100 chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese.
MDARD said bird flu is always fatal to poultry and can move quickly through a flock.
Since the current outbreak began three years ago, 15 Michigan counties have reported bird flu cases in domestic poultry or cattle or both.
Raw milk is the only food product linked to illnesses so far. Health experts recommend pasteurized milk.
Health officials haven’t yet found evidence of the disease spreading from person to person.
Nationally, about five dozen people have become ill with bird flu. Nearly all of them worked around sick animals. A Louisiana man became the first death from bird flu last month Officials said he was over age 65, had contact with infected poultry and had underlying health conditions.
In 1942, during its fight against the Soviet Union, Finland launched a novel campaign to keep the Red Army at bay: Raitis tammikuu, or “Sober January.” The monthlong sobriety challenge – one of the first Dry Januarys in history – was meant to encourage Finns to lay off the bottle while also conserving scant wartime resources.
Nowadays, Dry January isn’t so much a fight against invading forces as it is about a reset heading into a new year.
Alcohol has already taken center stage in 2025 after the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory calling for warning labels highlighting the risk of cancer in drinking boozy beverages earlier this month.
“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States – greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. – yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” Murthy said in a statement. “This Advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”
Across the globe, some countries have introduced forms of health warning labels on alcoholic drinks. But only a few, like South Korea and soon Ireland, have explicit labels warning of the risk of cancer and other negative health consequences.
But considering how socially ingrained alcohol is, the arrival of the surgeon general’s advisory begs the question: Is it possible to sip smarter in a world where every pint or cocktail comes with a side of caution?
A research smorgasbord
The connection between cancer and alcohol may come as news to the general public, but it’s not for scientists and clinicians, said Dr. Mack Mitchell, a gastroenterologist and professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
“There’s a large background of information on alcohol and health that’s accumulated over the last not 10 years, but 50 years,” said Mitchell, who is also a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. “The issue about cancer began to be recognized back in the 1980s, and the first thing that came up was a small but real association between drinking and breast cancer in women. I think there’s no question that this has been confirmed many, many times.”
Cancer occurs through different biological mechanisms, some of which involve ethanol — the main chemical component of alcoholic beverages — and other chemicals produced when we metabolize beer or a glass of wine, said Dr. Flavio Rocha, surgical oncologist and physician-in-chief at the Oregon Health and Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute.
“Alcohol can also increase inflammation through reactive oxygen species that we know can damage DNA,” Rocha said. “Alcohol hormonal changes particularly in estrogen, which is the mechanism thought to be causative for breast cancer and potentially liver cancer, as well.”
Yet, other studies have suggested that alcohol consumption, particularly in moderation, may be associated with positive health benefits such as longevity.
This perception, in particular, was popularized in the 1990s with the “French Paradox,” an observation that the French enjoy low rates of heart disease despite their rich, fatty diets. The secret to their good health? Imbibing red wine regularly.
But no studies to date have conclusively proved that drinking red wine offers any health benefits. And recent years have called into question the methodology of studies linking moderate alcohol drinking to health.
A 2024 review of 107 studies on drinking habits and longevity found the data suggested moderate drinkers — those enjoying anywhere between a drink a week and two a day — had a 14% lower risk of dying during the study period compared to those who abstained from alcohol. This link disappeared, however, when the researchers dug deeper into the data. In high-quality studies, which included younger people and made sure former and occasional drinkers weren’t considered abstainers, there was no evidence that light to moderate drinkers lived longer. In the lower quality studies, which involved older participants and made no distinction between former drinkers and lifelong abstainers, moderate drinking was linked to greater longevity.
Problematic methodology aside, other studies have also found socioeconomic status plays a major role in determining the health benefit of alcohol. For example, it’s been observed that people on the higher end of the socioeconomic ladder may consume similar or greater amounts of alcohol compared to people on the lower end but it’s the latter group that bears the burden of poorer health.
“There are many things related to our socioeconomic and educational levels that may contribute and, therefore, could be confounders to the alcohol effect,” Mitchell said. “And that’s where a lot of the controversy exists, whether the benefit of so-called ‘moderate’ drinking is related to drinking or related to your socioeconomic status. It’s very hard to separate the two.”
12 fluid ounces of regular beer with an alcohol content of 5%
5 fluid ounces of table wine with an alcohol content of 12%
A 1.5 fluid ounce shot of distilled spirits with an alcohol content of 40%
Even with these guidelines, alcoholic beverages don’t have explicit labeling informing consumers of how their drink compares to the standard, said Matthew Rossheim, associate professor of health administration and health policy at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.
“I’ve done research where I’ve given people cans of alcohol products like a 14% 23 and a half-ounce Four Loko. People will guess that it has two or three standard drinks but it’s really closer to a six-pack of beer in a single can,” he said.
Rossheim said the guidelines also don’t reflect the inventory of high volume alcohol products currently on the market.
“[Those guidelines] are dated because it assumes that there’s 5% beer when a lot of the products now are 8%, 12%, even 14 or 16%,” Rossheim said. “Some people don’t realize that what they’re drinking is low-end liquor rather than a beer type product, so that’s a huge issue.”
So should you cut alcohol out of your life entirely? While Mitchell, Rocha and Rossheim said there isn’t a safe amount when drinking alcohol, saying no to a nightly glass of Pinot Noir — or a cannabis-infused cocktail — is easier said than done.
If you already don’t drink alcohol, it’s best not to start now. If you do currently drink, Mitchell and Rocha said it’s best to stay within the standard guidelines and have a conversation with your health care provider to get an idea of what an acceptable amount looks like for you. That’s because one’s risk of cancer or other negative health consequences depends on many different factors, such as age, health status, lifestyle, genetics and family history.
Mitchell also endorses taking advantage of Dry January to evaluate your relationship with alcohol.
“If you don’t make it through Dry January, and your intent was to do so,” Mitchell said, “then you might want to rethink your relationship with alcohol and why you’re drinking.”
Miriam Fauzia is a science reporting fellow at The Dallas Morning News. Her fellowship is supported by the University of Texas at Dallas. The News makes all editorial decisions.
By John Daley, Colorado Public Radio, KFF Health News
DENVER — Outside HCA HealthONE Rose medical center, the snow is flying. Inside, on the third floor, there’s a flurry of activity within the labor and delivery unit.
“There’s a lot of action up here. It can be very stressful at times,” said Kristina Fraser, an OB-GYN in blue scrubs.
Nurses wheel a very pregnant mom past.
“We’re going to bring a baby into this world safely,” Fraser said, “and off we go.”
She said she feels ready in part due to a calming moment she had just a few minutes earlier with some canine colleagues.
A pair of dogs, tails wagging, had come by a nearby nursing station, causing about a dozen medical professionals to melt into a collective puddle of affection. A yellow Lab named Peppi showered Fraser in nuzzles and kisses. “I don’t know if a human baby smells as good as that puppy breath!” Fraser had said as her colleagues laughed.
The dogs aren’t visitors. They work here, too, specifically for the benefit of the staff. “I feel like that dog just walks on and everybody takes a big deep breath and gets down on the ground and has a few moments of just decompressing,” Fraser said. “It’s great. It’s amazing.”
Hospital staffers who work with the dogs say there is virtually no bite risk with the carefully trained Labradors, the preferred breed for this work.
The dogs are kept away from allergic patients and washed regularly to prevent germs from spreading, and people must wash their hands before and after petting them.
Nurses on a break crowd around to pet Peppi, a Canine Companion dog, in November at Denver’ s HCA HealthONE Rose medical center.(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News/KFF Health News/TNS)
Doctors and nurses are facing a growing mental health crisis driven by their experiences at work. They and other health care colleagues face high rates of depression, anxiety, stress, suicidal ideation, and burnout. Nearly half of health workers reported often feeling burned out in 2022, an increase from 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the percentage of health care workers who reported harassment at work more than doubled over that four-year period. Advocates for the presence of dogs in hospitals see the animals as one thing that can help.
That includes Peppi’s handler, Susan Ryan, an emergency medicine physician at Rose.
Ryan said years working as an emergency room doctor left her with symptoms of PTSD. “I just was messed up and I knew it,” said Ryan, who isolated more at home and didn’t want to engage with friends. “I shoved it all in. I think we all do.”
She said doctors and other providers can be good at hiding their struggles, because they have to compartmentalize. “How else can I go from a patient who had a cardiac arrest, deal with the family members telling them that, and go to a room where another person is mad that they’ve had to wait 45 minutes for their ear pain? And I have to flip that switch.”
To cope with her symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Ryan started doing therapy with horses. But she couldn’t have a horse in her backyard, so she got a Labrador.
Ryan received training from a national service dog group called Canine Companions, becoming the first doctor trained by the group to have a facility dog in an emergency room. Canine Companions has graduated more than 8,000 service dogs.
The Rose medical center gave Ryan approval to bring a dog to work during her ER shifts. Ryan’s colleagues said they are delighted that a dog is part of their work life.
“When I have a bad day at work and I come to Rose and Peppi is here, my day’s going to be made better,” EMT Jasmine Richardson said. “And if I have a patient who’s having a tough day, Peppi just knows how to light up the room.”
Peppi, a Canine Companion dog, takes a break at Denver’ s HCA HealthONE Rose medical center with her handler, emergency medicine physician Susan Ryan, in November.(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News/KFF Health News/TNS)
Nursing supervisor Eric Vaillancourt agreed, calling Peppi “joyful.”
Ryan had another dog, Wynn, working with her during the height of the pandemic. She said she thinks Wynn made a huge difference. “It saved people,” she said. “We had new nurses that had never seen death before, and now they’re seeing a covid death. And we were worried sick we were dying.”
She said her hospital system has lost a couple of physicians to suicide in the past two years, which HCA confirmed to KFF Health News and NPR. Ryan hopes the canine connection can help with trauma. “Anything that brings you back to the present time helps ground you again. A dog can be that calming influence,” she said. “You can get down on the ground, pet them, and you just get calm.”
Ryan said research has shown the advantages. For example, one review of dozens of original studies on human-animal interactions found benefits for a variety of conditions including behavioral and mood issues and physical symptoms of stress.
Rose’s president and CEO, Casey Guber, became such a believer in the canine connection he got his own trained dog to bring to the hospital, a black Lab-retriever mix named Ralphie.
She wears a badge: Chief Dog Officer.
Guber said she’s a big morale booster. “Phenomenal,” he said. “It is not uncommon to see a surgeon coming down to our administration office and rolling on the ground with Ralphie, or one of our nurses taking Ralphie out for a walk in the park.”
This article is from a partnership that includes CPR News, NPR, and KFF Health News.
Peppi, a yellow Lab and official “Canine Companion,” sits on the lap of OB-GYN Kristina Fraser in November at the HCA HealthONE Rose medical center in Denver.
(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News/KFF Health News/TNS)
It may not seem “futuristic” these days to dip or tap a credit card instead of swiping it, or to hold a cell phone over a payment terminal to cover your groceries.
But in the U.S., you only have to go back about 10 years or so — before EMV chips and contactless technology became standard on credit cards — to find a different world, where those now-commonplace features would have been perceived as unusual, confounding and potentially even unsafe.
A lot has changed in credit card tech since 2015, though the average cardholder has proved to be a quick study.
“American consumers have adapted remarkably well to these innovations,” said Seth Perlman, global head of product at i2c Inc., a global provider of banking and payment solutions. He added, however, that “the process hasn’t been without its challenges.”
Learning curves aside, many hurdles that had been widely expected never actually materialized for cardholders — and, with the benefit of hindsight, seem a little silly now.
Dipping wasn’t so hard
One notable card advancement in the U.S. over the past decade was the proliferation of EMV-enabled cards. Those initials stand for Europay, Mastercard and Visa, the companies that developed the tech. Introduced as a way to mitigate credit card fraud, EMV chip cards feature a small microprocessor that generates encrypted data and requires consumers to insert (or “dip”) their card into a card reader, rather than use the old method of swiping a card that stored data on a magnetic stripe on the back.
EMV chips had already been in wide use in other parts of the world; Europe, for instance, was already well-acquainted with the technology. But EMV didn’t really start taking hold in the U.S. until about 2015. And one big question was: “Will cardholders know what to do now at the register?” Hand-wringing commenced. Flowcharts were created.
But it turns out we took dipping in stride. As of 2022, 69% of all issued cards were EMV-enabled, and 93% of all global physical card transactions used EMV chip technology, according to data from EMVCo, which manages EMV technology.
“As merchants upgraded their point-of-sale systems and card issuers refined the technology, consumers quickly grew accustomed to the enhanced security and peace of mind that EMV provides,” Perlman said.
Nerdy Tip The adoption of EMV technology was also driven by a “liability shift,” which meant that with the advent of the technology, card issuers were no longer solely responsible for card fraud. Rather, the liability for fraudulent transactions became the responsibility of the party that didn’t support EMV — meaning, in many cases, the merchant. Hence, businesses were motivated to implement this change and replace their point-of-sale systems to protect themselves.
Going ‘chip-and-PIN-less’ became painless, mostly
During those early years of EMV use in the U.S., a common refrain was that Americans probably needed to carry a card with “chip-and-PIN” capabilities when traveling overseas. That was because of a difference in how cardholders verified their identity at the point of sale.
In the U.S., you dipped or tapped your card and then signed your name (at least sometimes). But in Europe and elsewhere, you dipped your card and then often entered a PIN. That might, for a time, have been problematic for U.S. cardholders, who typically have no PIN and thus might have been unable to verify their identity at, say, an automated train kiosk in a different country. The worry was prevalent enough that some card issuers used to prominently advertise “chip-and-PIN” as a travel card benefit.
But technology has caught up, and international acceptance of both “chip-and-signature” and chip-and-PIN cards is fairly widespread today. Even unattended terminals overseas will generally support transactions without requiring a “CVM,” or card verification method.
It’s still advisable to pack an extra card when traveling internationally. But that’s more to guard against the loss or theft of your primary payment method, or as a backup in case the merchant doesn’t accept your American Express or Discover card. That’s still a thing.
Paying with your phone? Easy call
Mobile wallets, virtual card numbers, and buy now, pay later apps weren’t especially prevalent in 2015. But the use of those kinds of digital payment technologies has accelerated over the past decade, driven in part by the desire for contactless payment options during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, 92% of consumers in the U.S. report having made some type of digital payment over the past year, according to a 2024 digital payments survey by McKinsey & Co., a global management consulting firm.
That’s not to say it’s been a smooth path. Consumer adoption is one thing, but some data suggest that businesses have been slower to adjust. In a 2024 merchant services satisfaction study conducted by J.D. Power, for instance, only 57% of small businesses in the U.S. said they accept digital wallets, compared with 94% that reported accepting physical cards.
It’s also not to say consumers themselves had no initial trepidation about digital payments. Questions abounded: Can it really be safe to pay with a cell phone? Won’t I miss out on my credit card rewards when I use this method?
In truth, paying with a mobile wallet is quite secure thanks to the process of tokenization, which protects a cardholder’s real credit card number and instead sends encrypted data that’s unique to each payment.
And while at first there may have been some hiccups in terms of earning credit card rewards via a mobile wallet payment, it’s now mostly a non-issue. In fact, these days many credit cards actively incentivize the use of mobile wallets, offering bonus rewards when you choose to pay that way.
Similarly, the convenience of instant virtual credit cards (aka immediate access to your credit line) and the flexibility of buy now, pay later services have proved to be popular features for consumers.
“The push towards electronic commerce … has been something that’s been mutually beneficial for merchants, issuers and cardholders,” said Brian Riley, director of credit and risk advisory services at Javelin Strategy & Research, a financial services research firm.
Illustrative photograph of Banque Postale credit cards or chip cards on a table in Clermont Ferrand France on January 10 2025. (Photo by ROMAIN COSTASECA/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Erica Hayes, 40, has not felt healthy since November 2020 when she first fell ill with COVID.
Hayes is too sick to work, so she has spent much of the last four years sitting on her beige couch, often curled up under an electric blanket.
“My blood flow now sucks, so my hands and my feet are freezing. Even if I’m sweating, my toes are cold,” said Hayes, who lives in Western Pennsylvania. She misses feeling well enough to play with her 9-year-old son or attend her 17-year-old son’s baseball games.
Along with claiming the lives of 1.2 million Americans, the COVID-19 pandemic has been described as a mass disabling event. Hayes is one of millions of Americans who suffer from long COVID. Depending on the patient, the condition can rob someone of energy, scramble the autonomic nervous system, or fog their memory, among many other symptoms. In addition to the brain fog and chronic fatigue, Hayes’ constellation of symptoms includes frequent hives and migraines. Also, her tongue is constantly swollen and dry.
“I’ve had multiple doctors look at it and tell me they don’t know what’s going on,” Hayes said about her tongue.
Estimates of prevalence range considerably, depending on how researchers define long COVID in a given study, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts it at 17 million adults.
Despite long COVID’s vast reach, the federal government’s investment in researching the disease — to the tune of $1.15 billion as of December — has so far failed to bring any new treatments to market.
This disappoints and angers the patient community, who say the National Institutes of Health should focus on ways to stop their suffering instead of simply trying to understand why they’re suffering.
“It’s unconscionable that more than four years since this began, we still don’t have one FDA-approved drug,” said Meighan Stone, executive director of the Long COVID Campaign, a patient-led advocacy organization. Stone was among several people with long COVID who spoke at a workshop hosted by the NIH in September where patients, clinicians, and researchers discussed their priorities and frustrations around the agency’s approach to long-COVID research.
Some doctors and researchers are also critical of the agency’s research initiative, called RECOVER, or Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery. Without clinical trials, physicians specializing in treating long COVID must rely on hunches to guide their clinical decisions, said Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research and development with the VA St Louis Healthcare System.
“What [RECOVER] lacks, really, is clarity of vision and clarity of purpose,” said Al-Aly, saying he agrees that the NIH has had enough time and money to produce more meaningful progress.
Now the NIH is starting to determine how to allocate an additional $662 million of funding for long-COVID research, $300 million of which is earmarked for clinical trials. These funds will be allocated over the next four years.At the end of October, RECOVER issued a request for clinical trial ideas that look at potential therapies, including medications, saying its goal is “to work rapidly, collaboratively, and transparently to advance treatments for Long COVID.”
This turn suggests the NIH has begun to respond to patients. This has stirred cautious optimism among those who say that the agency’s approach to long COVID has lacked urgency in the search for effective treatments.Stone calls this $300 million a down payment. She warns it’s going to take a lot more money to help people like Hayes regain some degree of health.“There really is a burden to make up this lost time now,” Stone said.
The NIH told KFF Health News and NPR via email that it recognizes the urgency in finding treatments. But to do that, there needs to be an understanding of the biological mechanisms that are making people sick, which is difficult to do with post-infectious conditions.
That’s why it has funded research into how long COVID affects lung function, or trying to understand why only some people are afflicted with the condition.
Then-NIH Director Francis Collins explained that RECOVER’s goal was to better understand long COVID as a disease and that clinical trials of potential treatments would come later.
According to RECOVER’s website, it has funded eight clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of an experimental treatment or intervention. Just one of those trials has published results.
On the other hand, RECOVER has supported more than 200 observational studies, such as research on how long COVID affects pulmonary function and on which symptoms are most common. And the initiative has funded more than 40 pathobiology studies, which focus on the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms of long COVID.
RECOVER’s website says this research has led to crucial insights on the risk factors for developing long COVID and on understanding how the disease interacts with preexisting conditions.
It notes that observational studies are important in helping scientists to design and launch evidence-based clinical trials.
Good science takes time, said Leora Horwitz, the co-principal investigator for the RECOVER-Adult Observational Cohort at New York University. And long COVID is an “exceedingly complicated” illness that appears to affect nearly every organ system, she said.
This makes it more difficult to study than many other diseases. Because long COVID harms the body in so many ways, with widely variable symptoms, it’s harder to identify precise targets for treatment.
“I also will remind you that we’re only three, four years into this pandemic for most people,” Horwitz said. “We’ve been spending much more money than this, yearly, for 30, 40 years on other conditions.”
NYU received nearly $470 million of RECOVER funds in 2021, which the institution is using to spearhead the collection of data and biospecimens from up to 40,000 patients. Horwitz said nearly 30,000 are enrolled so far.
This vast repository, Horwitz said, supports ongoing observational research, allowing scientists to understand what is happening biologically to people who don’t recover after an initial infection — and that will help determine which clinical trials for treatments are worth undertaking.
“Simply trying treatments because they are available without any evidence about whether or why they may be effective reduces the likelihood of successful trials and may put patients at risk of harm,” she said.
Delayed Hopes or Incremental Progress?
The NIH told KFF Health News and NPR that patients and caregivers have been central to RECOVER from the beginning, “playing critical roles in designing studies and clinical trials, responding to surveys, serving on governance and publication groups, and guiding the initiative.”But the consensus from patient advocacy groups is that RECOVER should have done more to prioritize clinical trials from the outset. Patients also say RECOVER leadership ignored their priorities and experiences when determining which studies to fund.
RECOVER has scored some gains, said JD Davids, co-director of Long COVID Justice. This includes findings on differences in long COVID between adults and kids.But Davids said the NIH shouldn’t have named the initiative “RECOVER,” since it wasn’t designed as a streamlined effort to develop treatments.
“The name’s a little cruel and misleading,” he said.
RECOVER’s initial allocation of $1.15 billion probably wasn’t enough to develop a new medication to treat long COVID, said Ezekiel J. Emanuel, co-director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Healthcare Transformation Institute.
But, he said, the results of preliminary clinical trials could have spurred pharmaceutical companies to fund more studies on drug development and test how existing drugs influence a patient’s immune response.
Emanuel is one of the authors of a March 2022 COVID roadmap report. He notes that RECOVER’s lack of focus on new treatments was a problem. “Only 15% of the budget is for clinical studies. That is a failure in itself — a failure of having the right priorities,” he told KFF Health News and NPR via email.
And though the NYU biobank has been impactful, Emanuel said there needs to be more focus on how existing drugs influence immune response.
He said some clinical trials that RECOVER has funded are “ridiculous,” because they’ve focused on symptom amelioration, for example to study the benefits of over-the-counter medication to improve sleep. Other studies looked at non-pharmacological interventions, such as exercise and “brain training” to help with cognitive fog.
People with long COVID say this type of clinical research contributes to what many describe as the “gaslighting” they experience from doctors, who sometimes blame a patient’s symptoms on anxiety or depression, rather than acknowledging long COVID as a real illness with a physiological basis.
“I’m just disgusted,” said long-COVID patient Hayes. “You wouldn’t tell somebody with diabetes to breathe through it.”
Chimére L. Sweeney, director and founder of the Black Long COVID Experience, said she’s even taken breaks from seeking treatment after getting fed up with being told that her symptoms were due to her diet or mental health.
“You’re at the whim of somebody who may not even understand the spectrum of long COVID,” Sweeney said.
Insurance Battles Over Experimental Treatments
Since there are still no long-COVID treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration, anything a physician prescribes is classified as either experimental — for unproven treatments — or an off-label use of a drug approved for other conditions. This means patients can struggle to get insurance to cover prescriptions.
For example, intravenous immunoglobulin therapy, low-dose naltrexone, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy are all promising treatments, he said.
For hyperbaric oxygen, two small, randomized controlled studies show improvements for the chronic fatigue and brain fog that often plague long-COVID patients. The theory is that higher oxygen concentration and increased air pressure can help heal tissues that were damaged during a COVID infection.
However, the out-of-pocket cost for a series of sessions in a hyperbaric chamber can run as much as $8,000, Brode said.
“Am I going to look a patient in the eye and say, ‘You need to spend that money for an unproven treatment’?” he said. “I don’t want to hype up a treatment that is still experimental. But I also don’t want to hide it.”
There’s a host of pharmaceuticals that have promising off-label uses for long COVID, said microbiologist Amy Proal, president and chief scientific officer at the Massachusetts-based PolyBio Research Foundation. For instance, she’s collaborating on a clinical study that repurposes two HIV drugs to treat long COVID.
Proal said research on treatments can move forward based on what’s already understood about the disease. For instance, she said that scientists have evidence — partly due to RECOVER research — that some patients continue to harbor small amounts of viral material after a COVID infection. She has not received RECOVER funds but is researching antivirals.
But to vet a range of possible treatments for the millions suffering now — and to develop new drugs specifically targeting long COVID — clinical trials are needed. And that requires money.
Hayes said she would definitely volunteer for an experimental drug trial. For now, though, “in order to not be absolutely miserable,” she said she focuses on what she can do, like having dinner with her family.At the same time, Hayes doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life on a beige couch.
RECOVER’s deadline to submit research proposals for potential long-COVID treatments is Feb. 1.
This article is from a partnership that includes NPR and KFF Health News.
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift will be among the familiar faces at the Super Bowl when the Kansas City Chiefs go for an unprecedented three-peat against the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are back in the NFL title game after beating the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in a thrilling AFC championship game on Sunday. They’ll face Philadelphia and star running back Saquon Barkley, who ran for three touchdowns as the Eagles beat the Washington Commanders 55-23 in the NFC title game.
Here are a few more things to know as the Super Bowl approaches:
What channel is the Super Bowl on?
The game will be aired on Fox. Kevin Burkhardt will be the play-by-play announcer with former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as the analyst. This is Brady’s first Super Bowl as an announcer. He won seven titles as a player. Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi are also part of the broadcast team.
What time is the Super Bowl?
It will start at roughly 6:30 p.m. EST on Feb. 9.
Who is the Super Bowl favorite?
The Chiefs are favored by 1 1/2 points, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
What are the streaming options for the Super Bowl?
The winner will be announced at the NFL Honors on Feb. 6 at 9 p.m. EST, a show that will air on Fox and NFL Network. Snoop Dogg is the host. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the playoffs began.
Who is performing at the Super Bowl halftime show?
Kendrick Lamar will be the headliner for the halftime show.
The rap megastar, who has won 17 Grammys, said he’s looking forward to bringing hip-hop to the NFL’s championship game, where he performed as a guest artist with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem in 2022.
Lamar will be joined on stage by Grammy winner SZA — his former Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate. The singer appeared on Lamar’s recent album “GNX” and was featured on a couple of songs including “Gloria” and “Luther,” which also features sampled vocals from Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn.
The duo’s previous hits include the Oscar-nominated “All the Stars” and “Doves in the Wind.” Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show.
Who is singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl pregame will have some Louisiana flavor: Jon Batiste will hit the stage to sing the national anthem, while Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle are slated to perform “America the Beautiful.”
The national anthem and “America the Beautiful” will be performed by actor Stephanie Nogueras in American sign language. Otis Jones IV will sign “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and the halftime show will be signed by Matt Maxey.
The pregame performers are all Louisiana natives.
Which teams do celebrities like?
Swift will be rooting for her beau Kelce and the Chiefs, but she’s far from the only star with a rooting interest.
The Chiefs’ famous fans include Paul Rudd, Rob Riggle, Heidi Gardner, Jason Sudeikis, Henry Cavill, Henry Winkler and David Koechner. Musicians Melissa Etheridge and Tech N9ne have each created songs for their team.
Meanwhile, the Eagles boast a starry roster of superfans such as Bradley Cooper, Will Smith, Kevin Hart, Miles Teller, Pink, Questlove and Meek Mill.
AP Sports Writer David Brandt and AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.
DETROIT — The Tigers on Wednesday reached an agreement with veteran right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle on a one-year deal worth $7.75 million.
The deal, which is pending a physical, was first reported by Jon Heyman and confirmed to The Detroit News by a source familiar with the negotiations.
Kahnle, 35, has been a model of consistency the last three seasons, posting 2.44 ERA and a 1.063 WHIP with the Dodgers in 2022 and the Yankees the last two seasons. Last season in 50 games he had a 2.11 ERA, 1.148 WHIP with 46 strikeouts in 42.2 innings.
He started last season on the injured list with shoulder soreness. But he quickly became the Yankees’ most reliable reliever for a three-month stretch. In 33 appearances from June 12 through the end of August, Kahnle allowed two earned runs in 28.2 innings with 31 strikeouts.
He’s logged 30 innings in the postseason over his career, including 8.2 last season. He didn’t allow an earned run until his last outing, which came in Game 5 of the World Series.
The 10-year veteran adds a different look to the back end of the Tigers’ bullpen in that he features an elite and unique changeup, one he threw 73% of the time last season. He throws it between 87 and 88 mph off a 94-mph four-seamer. Last season, the changeup limited hitters to a .173 average and a 39% swing and miss rate.
At one point last season, he threw 61 straight changeups.
Going back to 2019 when he made the changeup his primary pitch, opponents hit .163 (65 for 397) against it with 155 strikeouts.
Overall last season, Kahnle got hitters to chase pitches out of the strike zone 31% and whiff 36%. The swing-and-miss ability, as well as the uniqueness of his changeup, adds a dimension to the Tigers’ ‘pen that was missing last season.
The Tigers had been linked to several top-end relievers this offseason, including Kirby Yates, who signed a one-year deal worth $13 million with the Dodgers. Others at the top of the market, like Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Blake Treinen, A.J. Minter and Clay Holmes all signed deals that average between $11 and $18 million per season.
Interesting, too, is that Kahnle has only 18 save opportunities (with eight saves) over his career. He’s never been a closer, which seems to fit with the way the Tigers, under manager AJ Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter, like to construct the bullpen — without assigned, traditional roles.
Kahnle is expected to join Tyler Holton, Jason Foley, Beau Brieske and Will Vest as late-game options. It’s also going to create an even more intense battle for the final three bullpen spots this spring with Alex Faedo, Brenan Hanifee, Sean Guenther, Brant Hurter with the possibility of a starting pitcher eventually transitioning to a relief role (Matt Manning, Ty Madden, Kenta Maeda, among others).
New York Yankees pitcher Tommy Kahnle celebrates after Game 4 of the baseball AL Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Cleveland. The Yankees won 8-6 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. (GODOFREDO A. VASQUEZ — AP Photo, file)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday.
The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and that these ingredients were mingling with water almost right from the start.
“That’s the kind of environment that could have been essential to the steps that lead from elements to life,” said the Smithsonian Institution’s Tim McCoy, one of the lead study authors.
NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft returned 122 grams of dust and pebbles from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, delivering the sample canister to the Utah desert in 2023 before swooping off after another space rock. It remains the biggest cosmic haul from beyond the moon. The two previous asteroid sample missions, by Japan, yielded considerably less material.
Small amounts of Bennu’s precious black grains — leftovers from the solar system’s formation 4.5 billion years ago — were doled out to the two separate research teams whose studies appeared in the journals Nature and Nature Astronomy. But it was more than enough to tease out the sodium-rich minerals and confirm the presence of amino acids, nitrogen in the form of ammonia and even parts of the genetic code.
Some if not all of the delicate salts found at Bennu — similar to what’s in the dry lakebeds of California’s Mojave Desert and Africa’s Sahara — would be stripped away if present in falling meteorites.
“This discovery was only possible by analyzing samples that were collected directly from the asteroid then carefully preserved back on Earth,” the Institute of Science Tokyo’s Yasuhito Sekine, who was not involved in the studies, said in an accompanying editorial.
Combining the ingredients of life with an environment of sodium-rich salt water, or brines, “that’s really the pathway to life,” said McCoy, the National Museum of Natural History’s curator of meteorites. “These processes probably occurred much earlier and were much more widespread than we had thought before.”
NASA’s Daniel Glavin said one of the biggest surprises was the relatively high abundance of nitrogen, including ammonia. While all of the organic molecules found in the Bennu samples have been identified before in meteorites, Glavin said the ones from Bennu are valid — “real extraterrestrial organic material formed in space and not a result of contamination from Earth.”
Bennu — a rubble pile just one-third of a mile across — was originally part of a much larger asteroid that got clobbered by other space rocks. The latest results suggest this parent body had an extensive underground network of lakes or even oceans, and that the water evaporated away, leaving behind the salty clues.
Sixty labs around the world are analyzing bits of Bennu as part of initial studies, said the University of Arizona’s Dante Lauretta, the mission’s chief scientist who took part in both studies.
Most of the $1 billion mission’s cache has been set aside for future analysis. Scientists stress more testing is needed to better understand the Bennu samples, as well as more asteroid and comet sample returns. China plans to launch an asteroid sample return mission this year.
Many are pushing for a mission to collect rocks and dirt from the potentially waterlogged dwarf planet Ceres in the main asteroid belt. Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus also beckon as enticing water worlds. Meanwhile, NASA has core samples awaiting pickup at Mars, but their delivery is on hold while the space agency studies the quickest and cheapest way to get them here.
“Are we alone?” McCoy said. “That’s one of the questions we’re trying to answer.”
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
NEW YORK (AP) — Tax season is underway, and the IRS expects 140 million people will file returns by April 15. The agency has also debuted a new online tool to help taxpayers check the status of any refund they may be entitled to.
President Donald Trump this week offered all federal employees a buyout package in an effort to reduce the size of the government workforce, which could impact IRS staffing at an important period for the agency, though it’s not yet clear how. The IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Here’s what to know:
When will I receive my refund?
If you file your tax return electronically, the IRS says it should take 21 days or less to receive your refund. If you choose to receive your refund with direct deposit, it should take even less time. If you file a paper return, the refund could take four weeks or more, and if your return requires amendments or corrections, it could take longer.
The IRS cautions taxpayers not to rely on receiving a refund by a certain date, especially when making major purchases or paying bills.
How can I check the status of my refund?
Taxpayers can use the online tool Where’s My Refund? to check the status of their income tax refund within 24 hours of e-filing and generally within four weeks of filing a paper return.
Information related to this tool is updated once daily, overnight. To access the status of your refund, you’ll need:
— Your Social Security or individual taxpayer ID number (ITIN)
— Your filing status
— The refund amount calculated on your return
How do refunds work?
If you paid more through the year than you owe in tax, due to withholding or other reasons, you should get money back. Even if you didn’t pay excess tax, you may still get a refund if you qualify for a refundable credit, like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Child Tax Credit. To get your refund, you must file a return, and you have three years to claim a tax refund.
Do I qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)?
To qualify for the EITC, you must have under $11,600 in investment income and earn less than a specific income level from working. If you’re single with no children, your income level must be $18,591 or below. And if you’re married filing jointly with three or more children, you must make $66,819 or below. To determine if your household qualifies based on your marital status and your number of dependents you can use the online EITC Assistant tool.
What about the Child Tax Credit?
If you have a child, you are most likely eligible for the Child Tax Credit. The credit is up to $2,000 per qualifying child. To qualify, a child must:
— Have a Social Security number
— Be under age 17 at the end of 2024
— Be claimed as a dependent on your tax return
You qualify for the full amount of the Child Tax Credit for each qualifying child if you meet all eligibility factors and your annual income is not more than $200,000 ($400,000 if filing a joint return).
What’s different this year?
The IRS has expanded a program that allows people to file their taxes directly with the agency for free. The federal Direct File program, which permits taxpayers to calculate and submit their returns without using commercial tax preparation software, is now available to taxpayers in 25 states, up from 12 states that were part of last year’s pilot program.
The program allows people in some states with very simple W-2s to calculate and submit their returns directly to the IRS. Those using the pilot program in 2024 claimed more than $90 million in refunds, the IRS said in October.
The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
<p>FILE – A sign is displayed outside the Internal Revenue Service building on May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)</p>
Kick-off 2025 with the addition of a monstera plant to your indoor garden. You’ll join other gardeners observing 2025 as the Year of the Monstera.
Each year, the National Garden Bureau (NGB) selects and celebrates one plant in each of the following categories: annual, perennial, bulb, edible, and shrub. The plants are chosen for their popularity, easy-care nature, adaptability, diversity and versatility.
Monstera certainly meets the criteria and as NGB declared it is “the world’s most iconic indoor plant.” The large, glossy, heart-shaped leaves have distinct perforations called fenestrations. Scientists speculate these holes allow tropical downpours to pass through, minimizing plant damage.
There are several different monsteras, ranging in size and leaf shape including some with variegated leaves. Some are easy to grow, while others are a bit fussier. Always check the plant label for specifics on caring for the monstera you select.
One of the most popular and readily available is the monstera deliciosa, commonly called split-leaf philodendron, even though it is not a philodendron. It’s known for its large, heart-shaped perforated leaves on thick stems. In its native habitat, it can grow 66 feet tall, but typically grows up to 7 or 8 feet indoors. The flowers that seldom appear indoors are like a peace lily with a cone-shaped structure (spadix) surrounded by a cupped white sheath (spathe). The flowers may be followed by an edible fruit that tastes like a combination of pineapple, banana and mango. This flavorful combination inspired its nickname, fruit salad plant, and the botanical name that translates to delicious monstrosity.
In general, these tropical beauties prefer growing conditions like that of their native habitat. They prefer bright, filtered indirect sunlight. Avoid direct sunlight that can scorch or cause leaves to turn yellow. Grow monsteras in a quality, well-drained potting mix in a container with drainage holes. Water them thoroughly when the top two inches of soil are dry. Pour off excess water or place the pot on pebbles in a saucer. The pebbles elevate the pot above any water that collects in the saucer to avoid root rot. As this water evaporates, humidity increases around the plant.
Further, boost the humidity by placing your monstera with other plants. As one plant loses moisture or transpires, the neighboring plants will benefit.
Only apply houseplant fertilizer when the plants are actively growing, usually March through October. Let the plant and your garden goals be your fertilization guide. Fertilizers provide needed nutrients to plants in need of a nutrient boost or when you want to stimulate more growth.
Support the plant with a moss pole or trellis as it starts to climb. The large aerial roots attach to nearby surfaces to help them climb. In nature, these roots help monsteras to climb trees and have been used to make rope in Peru and baskets in Mexico.
Use these beauties to create an indoor tropical paradise or to provide some green relief. No matter your indoor décor, this unique plant will make a welcome addition.
Melinda Myers is the author of more than 20 gardening books, including “Small Space Gardening” and “Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition.” Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and her website is MelindaMyers.com.
This image provided by Costa Farms shows a Monstera Esqueleto plant in Florida. Plants with fenestrated — or hole-y — leaves have been popular among houseplant growers for the past several years, and the trend is expected to continue in 2025. (Marcos Garcia/Costa Farms via AP )
The following is a list of in-person and online worship services and events happening at churches and synagogues in the Oakland County area. Visit websites or call for service times and events.
• Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, 1550 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills, 248-651-6550, abidingpresence.org. Sunday worship services are at 9:30 a.m., virtual services are available on the website.
• Adat Shalom Synagogue, 29901 Middlebelt Road, Farmington Hills, online services via Zoom. To view daily Minyan video conferences; email Executive Director Michael Wolf at mwolf@adatshalom.org or visit adatshalom.org, 248-851-5100.
• All Saints’ Episcopal, 171 W. Pike St., Pontiac, allsaintspontiac.org, 248-334-4571, rector@allsaintspontiac.org.
• The Apostolic Church of Christ, 3655 N. Squirrel Road, Auburn Hills, theapostolicchurch.com, 248-373-4500, Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.
• Archdiocese of Detroit, livestream Mass times, aod.org/livemasses.
• Auburn Hills Christian Center, 2592 Walton Blvd., Auburn Hills, Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m., Servicio Evangelistico services (in Spanish) at 2-4 p.m. Sundays, 248-373-7139, www.myahcc.org.
• Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 5631 N Adams Road, Bloomfield Hills, livestream services at 9 a.m. Sundays, and in person at 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. at bslcmi.org, facebook/bslcmi, 248-646-5041.
• Berea Family Tabernacle of Faith, Pontiac, online worship services are noon Sundays, Berea’s YouTube Channel: youtu.be/5QnjxMyFwJ4 or visit experienceberea.org and click “Watch Now,” 248-338-4748.
• Berkley First United Methodist Church, 2820 12 Mile Road, Berkley, worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays in person and online at www.berkleyfirst.org. Christmas Eve worship services are at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. in-person and online at www.berkleyfirst.org.
• Bharatiya Temple, 6850 N Adams Road, Troy, www.bharatiya-temple.org, 248-879-2552.
• Big Beaver United Methodist Church, 3753 John R Road, Troy, worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays, http://bbumchurch.org.
• Birmingham First United Methodist Church, 1589 W Maple Road, Birmingham, www.fumcbirmingham.org. Sunday worship services in-person and online are at 9:30 a.m., and in-person only services at 11 a.m.
• Brightmoor Christian Church, 40800 W. 13 Mile Road, Novi, www.brightmoorchurch.org.
• Calvary Chapel Oakland County, 1975 E. Long Lake Road, Troy, 248-457-9673, ccoaklandcounty.com. Worship 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 a.m. Sundays.
• Calvary Church, 1361 Giddings Road, Pontiac, Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m., https://ccpontiac.org, 248-373-0311.
• Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church, 6805 Bluegrass Drive, Clarkston, calvary-lutheran.org. Sunday worship services are Traditional Worship at 7:55 a.m.; Modern Worship at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.; and livestream at 9:30 a.m. Food pantry (drive-up or curbside pickup) is 9-11 a.m. Wednesdays.
• Central Church, 1529 Twelve Mile Road, Madison Heights, www.centralchurch.cc. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.
• Central Oaks Community Church, 2005 Rochester Road, Royal Oak, www.centraloaks.com, 248-547-7755. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.
• Central United Methodist Church, 3882 Highland Road, Waterford Twp., 248-681-0040, WaterfordCUMC.org. In-person worship at 8:45 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sundays and online at 10:30 a.m. at Live.WaterfordCUMC.org.
• Central Woodward Christian Church Disciples of Christ, 3955 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 248-644-0512, centralwoodwardchristian.com. Sunday worship services are at 10:30 a.m., in person and online at centralwoodwardchristian.com and Facebook at www.facebook.com/CentralWoodward.
• Chapel of Our Lady of Orchard Lake, 3535 Commerce Road, West Bloomfield Twp., www.sscms.edu, 248-683-0310.
• Christian Tabernacle Church, Southfield, ctabchurch.com, 248-213-4770.
• Christ Church Cranbrook, 470 Church Road, Bloomfield Hills, in-person and online worship services, 10 a.m. Sundays, ccc-info.org.
• Christ Lutheran Church and School, 620 General Motors Road, Milford, www.christlutheranmilford.org.
• Christ, Our Light! Catholic Church, 3077 Glouchester, Troy. Mass times are: Saturday at 4 p.m.; Sunday at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.; weekday Masses (followed by Rosary recitation) are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 9 a.m., and Friday at 12:05 p.m., www.coltroy.org, 248-649-5510.
• Christ the Good Shepherd Progressive Old Catholic Church, 3947 Twelve Mile Road Berkley, church services: Saturday Mass 4:30 p.m. and Sunday Mass 10:30 a.m., 248-439-0470, www.cgs-occ.org.
• Christ the Redeemer Parish, 2700 Waldon Road Orion Township, 248-391-1621, weekly online Mass at 10 a.m. Sundays, also in-person Masses, ctredeemer.org.
• Crown of Life Lutheran Church, 2975 Dutton Road Rochester Hills, www.crownoflifechurch.org, 248-652-7720. Sunday worship services are 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
• Bridgewood Church, 6765 Rattalee Lake Road, Clarkston, 248-625-1344, www.bridgewoodchurch.com. Sunday worship services are 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., also online services, and locations in Goodrich.
• Church of the Holy Spirit, 3700 Harvey Lake Road, Highland Twp., www.holyspirithighland.com.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregations in Oakland County include: Bloomfield Hills, Clarkston, Commerce Twp., Farmington Hills, Lake Orion, Pontiac (Spanish), Rochester, Troy and White Lake Twp. The congregations host worship services on Sundays. For worship times and locations, visit churchofjesuschrist.org.
• Church of the Resurrection, 6490 Clarkston Road, Village of Clarkston, https://clarkstonepiscopal.com, 248-625-2325. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.
• Clarkston Community Church, 6300 Clarkston Road, Clarkston, in-person and online services at 9:15 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, clarkstoncchurch.com, 248-625-1323.
• Clarkston United Methodist Church, 6600 Waldon Road, Clarkston, in-person and online faith services, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, clarkstonumc.org, 248-625-1611.
• Commerce United Methodist Church, 1155 N. Commerce Road, Commerce Twp., commerceumc.org/media.
• Community Bible Church, 1888 Crescent Lake Road, Waterford Twp., https://cbcmi.com, 248-674-4871. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.
• Community Fellowship Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 27800 Southfield Road, Lathrup Village, church services at 11 a.m. Saturdays, http://communityfellowship22.adventistchurchconnect.org, 248-469-8539.
• Community Presbyterian Church, 4301 Monroe Ave., Waterford Twp. In-person worship is 10 a.m., Sundays, cpcwaterford.org, 248-673-7805.
• Congregation Beth Ahm, 5075 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield Twp., 248-851-6880, cbahm.org.
• Congregational Church of Birmingham, UCC, 1000 Cranbrook Road, Bloomfield Hills. Worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays, ccbucc.org, 248-646-4511.
• Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 27375 Bell Road, Southfield, offers virtual Jewish religious services including daily morning and evening Minyan services, Shabbat morning services and Youth Shabbat activities, shaareyzedek.org, 248-357-5544.
• Cornerstone Baptist Church, Ortonville, livestream online worship services, Sundays at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at Facebook at Cornerstone Baptist Church Ortonville, cbcortonville.com, 248 627-4700.
• Crossroads Free Will Baptist Church, 4804 White Lake Road, White Lake Twp., https://crossroadswl.org, Sunday worship services at 11 a.m. The church has a Blessing Box that is stocked with non-perishable food items, books and other household items for those in need. Donations welcome.
• Destiny Faith Church, 501 University Drive, Pontiac, Destinyfaith.org, 248-322-2200. Worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Wednesdays, in person and online.
• Divine Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3000 S. Lapeer Road, Orion Twp., divinegrace.net, Sunday worship services at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., livestream.
• Door of Faith Christian Church, Pontiac, online services, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, mydooroffaith.org.
• Empowerment Church of Southfield, worship services are 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sundays at new worship center location, Shriner’s Silver Garden Events Center, 24350 Southfield Road, Southfield, 248-569-2299, empowerment.mi.org. Virtual worship services, 10:30 a.m. Sundays at empowermentmi.org/stream and on Facebook Live.
• Encounter Church, 600 North Campbell Road, Royal Oak, in-person and online services, 11 a.m. Sundays; Prayer and Bible study is 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, www.encounter360.org.
• Evanswood Church of God, 2601 E Square Lake Road, Troy, 248-879-9240.
• Faith Church in Rochester Hills offers free meals to the community, 5:30-6:45 p.m. Wednesdays, at the church,160 W Hamlin Road, Rochester Hills, faithchurchrochesterhills.org/sharethetable.
• Faith Community Christian Church (meeting at Abiding Presence Lutheran Church), 1550 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills, 586-703-6249, Reverend Tom Sayers. Traditional service is at 1 p.m., www.faithcommunitychristianchurch.org.
• Faith Covenant Church, 35415 W. 14 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, worship services are at 9:30 a.m. and 11a.m., Sundays, 248-661-9191, 4fcc.org.
• First Baptist Church, 2601 John R Road, Troy, fbctroy.org.
• First Baptist Church, 255 E. Scripps Road, Lake Orion, fbclo.org, 248-693-6203, info@fbclo.org.
• First Congregational Church, 5449 Clarkston Road, Clarkston, (just east of Sashabaw Road), 248-394-0200, www.fcclarkston.com, worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays.
• First Congregational Church of Rochester UCC, 1315 N. Pine, Rochester, worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays, fccrochester.org, 248-651-6225.
• First Congregational Church of Royal Oak, 1314 Northwood Blvd., Royal Oak. Worship services at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, www.fccro.org.
• First General Baptist of Waterford, 2933 Frembes Road, Waterford, wgbchurch.com, 248-673-6481, Sunday school at 10 a.m., worship services at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• First Missionary Church, 4832 Clintonville Road, Independence Twp., www.fmcclarkston.org, 248-674-3186. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.
• First Presbyterian Church Birmingham, 1669 W. Maple, Birmingham, worship services are Sundays, 8:30 a.m. in person, and 10 a.m. in person and livestream, fpcbirmingham.org, 248-644-2040.
• First Presbyterian Church of Pontiac, 99 Wayne Street, Pontiac, fpcpontiac.info.
• First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak, 529 Hendrie Blvd., 248-541-0108, fpcro.org, online services available anytime at fpcro.org, 248-541-0108.
• First United Methodist Church of Troy, 6363 Livernois, Troy. Church services are 10 a.m. Sundays in person and livestream on YouTube and Facebook, www.FUMCTROY.org, 248-879-6363.
• Five Points Community Church, 3411 E Walton Blvd, Auburn Hills, https://5pointscc.org, 248-373-1381. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.
• Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1950 S. Baldwin Road, Lake Orion, 248-391-1170, goodshepherdlakeorion.net. Worship service is at 10 a.m. Sundays.
• Grace Gospel Fellowship, 65 East Huron Street, Pontiac; in-person and livestream online services are 11 a.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Livestream online services are at www.facebook.com/GraceGospelFellowshipPontiac, 248-334-2187.
• Greenfield Presbyterian Church, 2312 Greenfield Road, Berkley, both virtual and in-person worship services are at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, (Memorial Day through Labor Day, services are at 10 a.m. only), youtube.com/user/GreenfieldChurch, greenfieldchurch.com, 248-544-1800.
• Grace Church, 220 Bogie Lake Road, White Lake Twp. Sunday services are 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., Gracechurchinfo.net, 248-887-3700.
• Hazel Park First United Methodist Church, 313 E. Nine Mile Road, Hazel Park, 248-546-5955, hpfirst.org. Sunday worship services at 11:15 a.m.
• Heart of the Hills Christian Church, 5085 Orion Road, Rochester, https://heartofthehills.com, 248-841-1679. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.
• Hillside Bible Church, 73 N Church St, Ortonville, 248-627-2513, hillsidebible.org, Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.
• Hilltop Church of the Nazarene, 21260 Haggerty Road, Northville, hilltopnaz.org, Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.
• Holly Calvary Church, 15010 N Holly Road, Holly, hollycalvary.org, Sunday worship services at 10 a.m. in person and online, Wednesday worship is at 6:30 p.m.
• Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, 4800 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp. In-person worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays, livestream on YouTube youtube.com/@spiritdrivenchurch, 248-682-5441, spiritdrivenchurch.com.
• Immanuel Congregational Church of Christ, Oxford, 248-628-1610, icucc.org, virtual service at 11 a.m. Sundays, facebook.com/oxfordimmanuelucc.
• International Christian Church, 3980 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills, online and in-person services at 11:30 a.m. Sundays, 248-494-8757, myiccglobal.org, facebook.com/icchurch/live.
• Islamic Association of Greater Detroit, 879 West Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, www.childrenofabrahamday.org.
• Jewel Heart Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, 27745 Woodward Ave., Berkley, www.jewelheart.org.
• Journey Lutheran Church, (joined with Holy Cross Church) 136 S. Washington St., Oxford, online and in-person worship services, 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, education hour is at 10 a.m., journeylutheran.church, 248-628-2011.
• Kensington Church with locations in Birmingham, Clarkston, Clinton Twp., Orion Twp. and Troy, in-person Sunday worship times, and online services offered streaming on YouTube, Facebook, and website, kensingtonchurch.org.
• King of Kings Lutheran Church, 1715 S. Lapeer Road, Lake Orion, www.kingofkingslakeorion.org. Worship services are 9:30 a.m. Sundays, online streaming at www.facebook.com/kingofkingslakeorion.
• Kirk in the Hills, 1340 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills. Sunday worship services are at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., kirkinthehills.org, 248 626 2515.
• Lakecrest Baptist Church, 35 Airport Rd, Waterford Twp., www.lakecrestbaptist.com, 248-681-3214. Sunday worship services are at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Spanish service at 1 p.m.
• Lake Orion Church of Christ, 1080 Hemingway Road, Lake Orion, www.lococ.org, 248-693-7242. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.
• Lake Orion Methodist Church, Lake Orion, www.lakeorionumc.org. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m., in person and online.
• LakePoint Community Church, 1550 W. Drahner Road, Oxford, https://lakepointcc.org, 248-628-0038.
• The Lakes Church, 1450 S Hospital Road, Waterford Twp., www.thelakes.cc, 248-254-7833, Sunday worship services are 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. The 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. services are livestreamed.
• Liberty General Baptist Church, 3545 Joslyn Rd, Auburn Hills, https://libertygeneralbaptistchurch.org, 248-431-3498. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.
• Lifepoint Church, 5601 Scott Lake Road, Waterford Twp., lifepointchristian.com.
• Life Renewal Church, 28312 Grand River, Farmington Hills, https://liferenewalchurch.org, worship is 11 a.m. Sundays.
• Madison Heights Church of the Nazarene, 555 E 13 Mile Road, Madison Heights, mhnaz.org, 248-585-5551.
• Maranatha Baptist Church, 5790 Flemings Lake Road, Clarkston, Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m., www.mbcclarkston.org.
• Marimont Community Church, 424 W Walton Blvd., Pontiac, Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., https://marimontcommunitychurch.com.
• Masjid Mahmood, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Center, 1730 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, ahmadiyyamosque.blogspot.com.
• Metro Detroit Christian Church, 33360 W. 13 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, https://metrodetroit.org, 248-562-7998. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.
• Mother of God Chaldean Catholic Church, 25585 Berg Road, Southfield, https://mogccc.com, 248-356-0565.
• Motor City Church, 3668 Livernois Road, Troy, www.motorcitychurch.org, 248-524-2400. Sunday worship services are at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
• Mt. Zion Church, 4900 Maybee Road, Clarkston, mtzion.org. Sunday worship services at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
• Muslim Unity Center of Bloomfield Hills, 1830 W. Square Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, Muslimunitycenter.org.
• Nardin Park United Methodist Church, 29887 W Eleven Mile Road, Farmington Hills, 248-476-8860, nardinpark.org, www.facebook.com/NPUMC.
• New Heights Baptist Church, Grand Blanc, 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays, newheightsbc.com. For information, email pastornewheights@gmail.com or call 810-866-4563.
• New Hope Christian Fellowship, 6020 Pontiac Lake Road, Waterford Twp., https://newhopemi.org, 248-886-1500, Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.
• New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 23455 W Nine Mile Road, Southfield, www.newhope-mbc.org, 248-353-0675. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m., in person and livestream.
• New Hudson United Methodist Church, 56730 Grand River Ave., New Hudson, newhudsonumc.org. Worship services, 10:30 a.m. Sundays.
• Northminster Presbyterian Church, 3633 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 248-644-5920. Worship service at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, in person and livestream, www.facebook.com/TroyNorthminster.
• Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 23925 Northwestern Hwy, Southfield, www.northwestuu.org, 248-281-4902. Worship service at 10:30 a.m. Sundays in person and virtual.
• North Congregational Church, 36520 W. 12 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, northcongregationalchurch.org.
• North Hills Christian Reformed Church, 3150 North Adams Road, Troy, worship services, 9:30 a.m. Sundays, 248-645-1990, northhillscrc.org.
• North Oaks Church, 9600 Ortonville Road, City of the Village of Clarkston, worship services are 10:30 a.m., Sundays, northoakschurch.org, office@northoakschurch.org, 248-922-3515.
• Oakland Church, 5100 North Adams Road, Rochester, worship services, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, www.oaklandchurch.me.
• Oakland Church of Christ, 23333 West 10 Mile Road Southfield, livestream and in-person worship services are 10:30 a.m. Sundays, TheOaklandChurchofchrist.org, 248-355-9225.
• Oakland Hills Community Church, Farmington Hills, ohcc.net, 313-686-4578.
• Oakland Woods Baptist Church 5628 Maybee Rd, Village of Clarkston, www.facebook.com/OWBCClarkston, 248-625-7557. Sunday worship services are at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
• Oak Pointe Church,1250 South Hill, Milford, in-person or online worship services are 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, opcmilford.org.
• Oak Pointe Church, 50200 W. 10 Mile Road, Novi, in-person or online worship services are 9:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. oakpointe.org, 248-912-0043.
• Oak Pointe Church, 6343 Farmington Road, West Bloomfield, in-person or online worship services are 10:15 a.m. Sundays, oakpointe.org/westbloomfield.
• Oakwood Community Church, 5791 Oakwood Rd, Ortonville, www.oakwoodcc.org, 248-628-6388.
• Orchard Grove Community Church, 850 Ladd Rd; Bldg. C, Walled Lake, Sunday worship services are at 10:10 a.m., www.orchardgrove.org.
• Orchard Lake Community Church, Presbyterian, 5171 Commerce Road, Orchard Lake, worship services are at 9 a.m., and 10:30 a.m. Sundays, olccp.com, 248-682-0730.
• Orchard United Methodist Church, Farmington Hills, worship services, 10 a.m. Sundays and Weekday Worship Experiences at Noon at youtube.com/c/OrchardUMC and facebook.com/OrchardUMC/live_videos, 248-626-3620, orchardumc.org.
• Our Lady of La Salette, 2600 Harvard Road, Berkley, 248-541-3762, par8551@gmail.com, lasalette-church.org, Mass is at 4:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sundays.
• Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in-person Mass, Saturday at 5 p.m., Sunday at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., weekdays at 8:15 a.m., 5481 Dixie Hwy., Waterford Twp. Livestream Mass at 5 p.m. Saturdays and 9:30 a.m. Sunday, ollonline.org/live.
• Our Lady of Refuge Church, 3700 Commerce Road, Orchard Lake, olorcc.org, 248-682-4099, Mass is 5 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. Sundays.
• Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 23815 Power Road, Farmington, church.olsorrows.com.
• Our Mother of Perpetual Help, 13500 Oak Park Blvd, Oak Park, www.omoph.org. Saturday mass is at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday mass is at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
• Oxbow Lake Baptist Church, 10730 Elizabeth Lake Rd, White Lake Charter Township, www.oxbowbc.com, 248-698-3034. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Oxford United Methodist Church, 21 E. Burdick St. Oxford, 248 628-1289, oxfordunitedmc.org. People Feeding People (PFP) free breakfast is 9:30-10:30 a.m. Saturdays. In-person worship services and online at youtube.com/channel/UCN2R96oWdXzxDqwdz8YBlrQ.
• Paint Creek United Methodist Church, 4420 Collins Road, Rochester, www.paintcreekumc.org, 248-373-2360, Sunday worship services are at 11 a.m.
• The River Church of Auburn Hills, 315 S. Squirrel Road, Auburn Hills, http://riverchurch.faith, 248-853-1524. Worship services are 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Sundays.
• The River Church, Holly, Lake Orion, Waterford and more locations, livestream and videos of sermons, theriverchurch.cc, 248-328-0490.
• River North Church, 67 N Lynn Ave, Waterford Twp., Sunday School is 10 a.m. Sundays, worship services at 11:15 a.m. Sundays and 7:15 p.m. Wednesdays, view sermons online at www.youtube.com/@rivernorthchurch2023, nondenominational family church, 248-724-6559, www.facebook.com/Rivernorthchurch.
• River Of Life Christian Church, 5482 Winell St., Independence Twp., 248-599-3074.
• Rochester Christian Church, 4435 Rochester Rd, Rochester Hills, https://rcc4me.com, 248-652-3353, Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.
• Royal Oak First United Methodist Church, 320 W. 7th Street, Royal Oak, www.rofum.org, 248-541-4100. Worship services are 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, in person and online, www.rofum.org/live.
• Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 3400 S. Adams Road, Auburn Hills. Mass times are at 4 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday. Weekday Mass services are 9 a.m. Monday through Friday, www.esacredheart.org, 248-852-4170.
• St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church, 4571 John R Road, Troy, www.stanastasia.org, 248-689-8380.
• St. Anne Catholic Church of Ortonville, 825 South Ortonville Road, Ortonville. Mass times are Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.; Saturday at 5 p.m.; Monday at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 a.m., 248-627-3965, churchofstanne.org.
• St. Augustine Lutheran Troy (SALT) Church, 5475 Livernois in Troy, saltchurch.net, communications@saltchurch.net, 248-879-6400.
• St. Benedict Catholic Church, 60 South Lynn Street, Waterford Twp., 248-681-1534. Sunday Mass times are 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., streaming at stbencc.org/live-stream.
• St. David’s Episcopal Church, 16200 W. Twelve Mile Road, Southfield, www.stdavidssf.org. Sunday worship services are at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. both in person and via zoom. Food pantry is 9 a.m.-noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
• St. George’s Episcopal Church, 801 E Commerce, Milford, 248-684-0495. Sunday worship services 8:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., in person and online, www.stgeorgesmilford.org.
• St. George Orthodox Church, 2160 E Maple Road, Troy, 248-589-0480, www.stgeorgeoftroy.org, www.facebook.com/stgeorgeoftroymi.
• St. James Church, 46325 Ten Mile Road, Novi, Mass times are 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Sundays, and 4 p.m. Saturdays. Livestream services, 4 p.m. Saturdays, 248-347-7778, stjamesnovi.org.
• St. John Lutheran Church & School, 1011 University Drive, Rochester. Traditional praise worship services are Sundays at 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Modern praise services are Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 10:45 p.m. The 8 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Sunday worship services are livestreamed and posted on the website at stjohnrochester.org.
• St. John Lutheran Church, 23225 Gill Road, Farmington Hills, www.stjohn-elca.org, https://form.jotform.com/242835058121149.
• St. John’s Episcopal Church Royal Oak, 26998 Woodward Ave. Royal Oak. Services are 8 a.m. Sundays, in person and 10:15 a.m. Sundays, online and in-person worship, stjohnsroyaloak.org, 248-546-1255.
• St. Joseph Catholic Church, Lake Orion, view Mass services on the church’s Youtube channel, youtube.com/user/stjosephmassarchive, or at Facebook page, facebook.com/StJoeLo, stjoelo.org, 248-693-0440.
• St. Joseph Chapel and Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 400 South Blvd. West, Pontiac, https://terrasanctaministries.net.
• St. Mark and St. Mary & St. Philopater Coptic Orthodox Church, 3603 Livernois Road, Troy, www.stmarkmi.org. Divine liturgy services are at 7 a.m. (Arabic) and 8:15 a.m. (English), Sundays.
• St. Mary Catholic Church, 730 S Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak, www.stmaryroyaloak.com, 248-547-1818. Mass at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday.
• St. Mary of the Hills Roman Catholic Church, 2675 John R. Road, Rochester Hills. Live online Mass is 4 p.m. Saturday, on Facebook and YouTube. In-person Mass is 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. Sunday, sign up required, 248-853-5390, smoth.org.
• St. Mary’s In-the-Hills Episcopal Church, 2512 Joslyn Court, Lake Orion, 248-391-0663, www.stmarysinthehills.org. Sunday Services are at 8:30 a.m.-Simple service of Holy Eucharist and at 10 a.m.-Service of Holy Eucharist with choir and Children’s Church School-Service, livestream on YouTube or Facebook or www.stmarysinthehills.org. Adult Bible Study is held Tuesdays at 10 a.m.
• St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 2040 S. Commerce Road, Walled Lake, 248-624-7676, st-matthew.org. Blended Worship services are 8:45 a.m. Sundays (also livestream on YouTube); Prayer & Praise Worship services are 11 a.m. Sundays; Monday Blended Worship services are 7 p.m.
• St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 48380 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 248-624-9525, st-matthew.org. Sunday worship services are 10 a.m.
• St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Divine Liturgy at 9:30 a.m. Sundays, 760 W Wattles Road, Troy, 248-362-9575, stnicholastroy.org.
• St. Owen Catholic Church, 6869 Franklin Road Bloomfield Hills, stowen.org.
• St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 1413 E. Thirteen Mile Road, Madison Heights, 248-585-9591, in-person Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m., or online at stpatsmh.org.
• St. Paul Community Lutheran Church, 1133 Joslyn Ave., Pontiac, www.stpaulpontiac.com. 248-758-9019. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.
• St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 E. Fifth St, Royal Oak, worship services are 8:15 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays. Livestream also at 8:15 a.m. service, stpaulroyaloak.org, 248-930-3100.
• St. Paul United Methodist Church, 165 E. Square Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 248-338-8233, services are at 9:45 a.m. Sundays, SPUMC.net, facebook.com/spumcbloomfieldhills, 248-216-1657.
• St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 620 Romeo Street, Rochester. Open door worship services are at 9:30 a.m. Sundays and sanctuary worship services are at 11 a.m., Sundays, livestream available, facebook.com/stpaulsrochester, stpaulsrochester.org.
• St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 100 Romeo Road, Rochester, stpfeeds.org.
• St. Stephens Episcopal Church, 5500 N Adams Road, Troy, www.ststephenstroy.org, 248-641-8080, worship services at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. online and in person.
• St. Stephens Missionary Baptist Church, 69 S. Astor St., Pontiac, 248-335-5873, www.saintstephenmbc.com. Sunday worship services are at 11 a.m.
• St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church, 6900 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield Twp., www.stccc.org.
• St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Divine Liturgy at 10 a.m. Sundays, 29150 W. 10 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, 248-471-1059, stthomasalbanianorthodoxchurch.org.
• St. William Parish, 531 Common St., Walled Lake, stwilliam.com, 248-624-1421.
• Sashabaw Presbyterian Church, Clarkston, worship services via Zoom, services at 11 a.m. on 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of the month, and at 6 p.m. on 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month. Email sashabawpresbyterianchurch@gmail.com for a link to services, sashabawpresbyterianchurch.org, 248-310-0792.
• Scott Lake Baptist Church, 811 Scott Lake Road, Waterford Twp., Sunday worship services at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., also livestream, https://hisscottlake.org.
• Seymour Lake United Methodist Church, 3050 S. Sashabaw Road, Oxford, in-person or online services at 10 a.m. Sundays, 248-572-4200, email- office@seymourlakeumc.org, seymourlakeumc.org.
• Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church, 2905 S. Commerce Road, Walled Lake, worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays, and Wednesdays at 7 p.m. during Lent and Advent, www.shepherdlakes.org, 248-624-4238.
• Shrine Catholic Church, 12 Mile and Woodward, 248-541-4122, https://shrinechurch.com.
• Silver Lake Church Of The Nazarene, 20 W Walton Blvd., Pontiac, https://slcpontiac.org, 248-977-4698.
• Spirit of Grace Church, 2399 Figa Ave., West Bloomfield Twp., 248-682-0270, Sunday worship at 10 a.m., spiritofgrace.church, facebook.com/spiritograce/videos. The church has a diabetic food pantry for those in need with dietary restrictions. The church seeks donations of non-perishable food items for diabetics including: proteins, nuts, grains and beans, sugar-free foods, low carb and high fiber foods as well as shopping bags and unused boxes. Drive-up diabetic food pantry hours are 10 a.m.-noon, 3rd Saturdays of the month.
• Spiritual Life Center, Troy, www.slctroy.com, 248-925-6214. A Message of Hope is 10 a.m. Sundays at www.youtube.com/c/SLCTroy.
• Stone Haven Free Methodist Church, 1349 West Wattles Road, Troy, services are 11 a.m. Sundays, (limited in-person seating at 10:45 a.m.) online services at stonehavenfmc.org, 248-649-1465.
• Temple Beth El Synagogue, 7400 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, www.tbeonline.org, streaming page – tbelive.org and facebook.com/tbeonline/live, 248-851-1100.
• Temple Israel, West Bloomfield Twp., streaming video at temple-israel.org.
• Temple Kol Ami, 5085 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp., tkolami.org, 248-661-0040.
• Temple Shir Shalom, 3999 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp., www.shirshalom.org, 248-737-8700.
• Thrive Church, a Global Methodist Church, 680 W. Livingston Road, Highland Twp., www.thrive-church.us, 248-887-1311.
• Troy Church of the Nazarene, 6840 Crooks Road, Troy, troynaz.org, 248-802-7650. Worship Services and Bible Study, 11 a.m. Sundays and 6 p.m. Wednesdays.
• Unity of Farmington Hills worship service in person and online at 10 a.m. Sundays, youtube.com/channel/UCi90mgzXUDpw0k21_3JXlTg, Unityfh.com.
• Unity of Lake Orion, 3070 S. Baldwin Road, Orion Twp., unitylakeorion.org, 248-391-9211. Sunday worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays, in person and livestream on Facebook.
• Unity of Royal Oak, 2500 Crooks Road, Royal Oak, unityofroyaloak.org, 248-288-3550. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m., livestream on YouTube and Facebook.
• Universalist Unitarian Church of Farmington, 25301 Halsted Road, Farmington Hills, uufarmington.org. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, in person and livestream.
• University Presbyterian Church, 1385 S. Adams, Rochester Hills, universitypres.org, 248-375-0400.
• The Village Church of Ortonville, 93 N Church St. Ortonville, www.facebook.com/oumvillagechurch, 248 627-3125.
• Walled Lake United Methodist Church, 313 E Northport St., Walled Lake. Sunday worship services at 9:30 a.m. in person, or at Facebook Live, facebook.com/walledlakeumc and YouTube, youtube.com/channel/UCjOTQmG5DAGUdd_ghKdp2FQ, walledlakeumc.org, 248-624-2405.
• Warren’s Amazing Grace Lutheran Church, 29860 Dequindre, Warren. Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m. in person and livestream at www.aglc-warren.org, 586-751-7750.
• Waterford Seventh-day Adventist Church, 5725 Pontiac Lake Road, Waterford Twp., www.waterfordadventist.org, 248-681-3334. Worship services in person and livestream, 11 a.m. Saturdays.
• Welcome Missionary Baptist Church, 143 Oneida St, Pontiac, www.welcomemissionarybaptistchurch.com, 248-335-8740. Sunday worship services are at 8:30 a.m. in person and livestream on Facebook at www.facebook.com/welcomemissionary.church.
• Wellspring Bible Church, 485 Farnsworth, White Lake Twp., worship services are at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, wellspringbiblechurch.org, 248-682-0319.
• West Bloomfield United Methodist Church, 4100 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp., worship services are at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, westbloomfieldumc.org, 248-851-2330.
• White Lake Presbyterian Church, 4805 Highland Road, White Lake Twp., worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays, 248-887-4654, whitelakepc.org.
• Williams Lake Church, 2840 Airport Road, Waterford Twp., www.facebook.com/williamslakechurch, 248-673-5911, www.williamslakechurch.com.
• Woodside Bible Church, with 14 locations in Southeast Michigan, livestream online services, 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Sundays, live.woodsidebible.org, 248-879-8533.
• Zion Lutheran Church, 143 Albany St., Ferndale, in-person and online worship services at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, www.zionlutheranmi.org.
To add a church or event to this list, visit the link to the online submission form at https://bit.ly/40a2iAm.
— MediaNews Group
(Photo courtesy of Central United Methodist Church)
WHITE LAKE – Lakeland won a defensive struggle over Walled Lake Northern 41-34 Friday night in Lakes Valley Conference play.
The game had the feel of a neck-and-neck battle right from the start. The teams combined for just seven points in the entire first quarter – and three of those came on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Chase Carson to give the Eagles a 5-2 lead after the opening period.
The offenses did a bit better in the succeeding quarters, but neither team could sustain anything resembling a rhythm on offense for more than a couple of possessions. Walled Lake Northern led only once, and briefly, at 8-7 in the second quarter, but the Eagles scored the next six points to take a 13-8 lead, and the Knights trailed the rest of the way, though they always stayed close. Each team’s swarming, physical defense leant a frenetic yet grinding tone to the game where the offenses were consistently struggling to find open shots or to produce points.
“That’s how it always is in this Battle of Bogie Lake – a low-scoring, tightly-contested physical battle, and this one didn’t disappoint. That’s for sure,” Eagles head coach Ron Thompson said. “They’re going to do what they do. We’re going to do what we do. No surprises.”
But once the second half rolled around, 6-foot-5 senior Nsikan Usen got rolling, and the Eagles always had an answer whenever the Knights started to creep close on the scoreboard.
Walled Lake Northern’s Jack Cooper avoids a block attempt by Lakeland’s Nsikan Usen during Friday night’s LVC battle at Lakeland. The Eagles defeated the Knights 41-34. (KEN SWART – For MediaNews Group)
“I think he (Usen) is a hard guy to referee because he’s bigger, stronger than a lot of guys out there. I think he gets beat up everywhere he goes, but he did a really nice job of handling the pressure, handling the physicality and not complaining and getting things done,” Thompson said.
Usen led the field with 16 points and eight rebounds. Ethan Rowley finished with seven points and seven rebounds, while Hayden Cross tallied eight points as Lakeland spread out the scoring.
Walled Lake Northern was led by seven points from Stone Seyburn and six points from E. J. Milan. But they couldn’t sustain any kind of offense all night, and that kept the Eagles just out of reach even when the Knights were playing well defensively.
“We have to score if we want to win,” Knights head coach Ryan Negoshian said. “We kind of hang our hats on playing solid defense and getting after it, but offensively if you want to win, you have to score. That’s the name of the game. and we just can’t score.”
Lakeland (9-6 overall, 6-4 LVC) continues conference play next Tuesday when it travels to South Lyon East to face the Cougars.
“I thought it was a great team game. I think everybody stepped up and did what they were supposed to do. Everybody knew their role and did it,” Thompson said. “I thought all the guys played really well.”
Walled Lake Northern (5-10 overall, 4-6 LVC) will try to snap a four-game losing streak when the Knights host South Lyon on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to get back to basics, to making shots, to catching the ball ready to score, to passing the ball quicker, to doing fundamental things that basketball teams need to do that we are not executing right now,” Negoshian said. “We have the ability to do it, which is the frustrating part. We have done it. We know we can do it. We’re just not doing it right now.”
Lakeland's Nsikan Usen dunks for two of his game-high 16 points in Friday night's 41-34 home victory over Walled Lake Northern. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Ashlee Frankford was the recipient of the DAR Good Citizen Award from West Bloomfield High School.
The Piety Hill Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, honored 16 local high school recipients of the Good Citizens Award and Scholarship Essay Contest on Jan. 9 at the Bloomfield Township Public Library.
The DAR Good Citizen Award recognizes and rewards individuals who possess good citizenship qualities of dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism in their homes, schools, and communities. The students are selected by their teachers and peers because they demonstrate these qualities to an outstanding degree.
There are 3,000 chapters of the DAR nationwide. It was founded in 1890 as a nonprofit, nonpolitical volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting historic preservation, education, and patriotism.
Ashlee Frankford was one of 16 students honored by the DAR
photo courtesy DAR
Today is Saturday, Jan. 25, the 25th day of 2025. There are 340 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Jan. 25, 2004, NASA’s Opportunity rover landed on Mars and sent its first pictures of the planet to Earth; originally planned as a 90-day mission, the rover remained operational for over 15 years, travelling a total of 28 miles across the planet’s surface.
Also on this date:
In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games opened in Chamonix (shah-moh-NEE’), France.
In 1945, the World War II Battle of the Bulge ended as the German army concluded its final offensive on the Western Front; approximately 19,000 US soldiers were killed during the five-week campaign.
In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city to add fluoride to its public water supply.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy held the first live televised presidential news conference.
In 1971, Charles Manson and three of his followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actor Sharon Tate.
In 2011, Egyptians began a nationwide uprising that forced longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak to step down amid the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa.
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an order reversing a Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender people from military service.
In 2022, the Navy said it had discharged 23 active-duty sailors for refusing the coronavirus vaccine; it marked the first time the Navy had thrown currently-serving sailors out of the military over the mandatory shots.
Today’s birthdays:
Football Hall of Famer Carl Eller is 83.
Actor Leigh Taylor-Young is 80.
Actor Jenifer Lewis is 68.
Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios is 63.
Actor Ana Ortiz is 54.
Actor Mia Kirshner is 50.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is 47.
Soccer manager and former player Xavi is 45.
Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys is 44.
Football Hall of Famer Patrick Willis is 40.
Actor-singer Ariana DeBose is 34.
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 25: In this handout photo, Pete Theisinger, project manager (L) and Jennifer Trosper, Spirit Mission Manager for Surface Operations, react as the first images arrive from the NASA Mars Rover, “Opportunity,” at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on January 25, 2004 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland.
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Walled Lake Northern's Stone Seyburn gets boxed out by Lakeland's Grant Thompson (L) and Hayden Cross during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played on Friday at Lakeland. Seyburn had a team-high seven points, but the Eagles defeated the Knights, 41-34. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland's Cole Bromley (R) tries to slow down Walled Lake Nothern's Stone Seyburn during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played on Friday at Lakeland. The Eagles defeated The Knights 41-34. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Walled Lake Northern's Jack Cooper avoids a block attempt by Lakeland's Nsikan Usen during Friday night's LVC battle at Lakeland. The Eagles defeated the Knights 41-34. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland's Nsikan Usen dunks for two of his game-high 16 points in Friday night's 41-34 home victory over Walled Lake Northern. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
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In the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader, Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 41-34 on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025 at Lakeland. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Walled Lake Northern's Stone Seyburn gets boxed out by Lakeland's Grant Thompson (L) and Hayden Cross during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played on Friday at Lakeland. Seyburn had a team-high seven points, but the Eagles defeated the Knights, 41-34. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
WHITE LAKE – The White Lake Lakeland Eagles led from start to finish, knocking off the Walled Lake Northern Knights 43-33 in a key Lakes Valley Conference contest Friday evening.
The game was a defensive battle from the start. The teams are very familiar with each other, and it showed from the start.
“We’ve played them (Walled Lake Northern) three times last year, twice this year. We know each other so well. We have a lot of experienced players that came back, so we all know each other. I’m calling out their plays. They’re calling out our plays. That’s what it is when you play a rival like that,” Lakeland head coach Mike Leitheim said. “We just know each other so well, and both teams work so hard that it’s tough to get a good look sometimes.”
Neither team made a field goal in the first four minutes of the game, and the score was just 15-8 Lakeland at halftime.
“Lakeland basketball doesn’t have to be pretty,” Leitheim said. “We’re about whatever we can do to have one more point than the opponent at the end of the game. The first half, I went in the locker room, in a 15-8 game, and we all agreed that was beautiful basketball, because we know that sometimes we have to win that way, and we’re used to winning that way.”
Lakeland kept driving toward the basket, and in the fourth quarter in particular it finally paid off. Whereas the Knights were able to stop the Eagles and force them into bad shots in the first half, by the fourth quarter, those Lakeland drives started to draw fouls, and the Eagles made their foul shots, going 12-for-16 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to hold the Knights. Aubrin Miller did most of the damage, making 8 of 10 free throws in that final stanza, and canning 10 of 12 on the night.
Walled Lake Northern hung around much of the evening. After getting down 13-2 by the middle of the second quarter, the Knights started chipping away. Twice they had the margin down to a single possession early in the fourth quarter, but they could never quite catch up.
Walled Lake Northern’s Amal Younes (1) drives past Lakeland’s Haley Aberlich (12) during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road on Friday. Younes had a game-high 21 points, but the Knights fell to the Eagles, 43-33. (KEN SWART – For MediaNews Group)
Amal Younes led all scorers with 21 points for Walled Lake Northern, but the Knights couldn’t get anyone else going to help offset Lakeland’s balance.
“Right now, we’re just not doing a very good job of executing a game plan and paying attention to the little details that we need to be paying attention to to beat good teams like that. Early in the year, we did,” Knights head coach Joshua Pees said. “We’re just not there right now. We’ve got to get back to the way we were at the beginning of the year.”
Miller led Lakeland with 15 points. Alena Tiernan chipped in 10 points and Peyton Baer added seven points for the Eagles.
With the win, Lakeland improves to 9-3 overall and 7-1 in the LVC to maintain its chase of South Lyon (11-1, 8-1), who inched back ahead for the league lead by a half-game with a victory over Milford Friday.
The Eagles will continue league play on Tuesday when they host South Lyon East.
“I’m just really proud. Our senior group has been so tough. We’re seniors and juniors. We’re experienced,” Leitheim said. “We’ve been through the grind, so it’s just these are the kinds of games they love to be a part of.”
Walled Lake Northern slips to 8-5 overall and 4-3 in league play.
“You don’t lose. I tell the girls all the time we don’t lose games, we only learn. So this was a good game to learn from, correct our mistakes, and come back and get them next time,” Pees said.
The Knights travel to South Lyon on Tuesday for another important league contest. Walled Lake Northern handed South Lyon its only conference loss earlier in the year.
Lakeland's Aubrin Miller (R) moves past Walled Lake Northern's Savannah Scott during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road on Friday. Miller had a team-high 15 points to help lead the Eagles to a 43-33 win. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025.
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Walled Lake Northern's Amal Younes (1) drives past Lakeland's Haley Aberlich (12) during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road on Friday. Younes had a game-high 21 points, but the Knights fell to the Eagles, 43-33. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland's Brynn Taliercio (10) blocks the shot of Walled Lake Northern's Macie Hunter (12) during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road on Friday. The Eagles defeated the Knights 43-33. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Walled Lake Northern's Macie Hunter (12) drives the baseline around Lakeland's Brynn Taliercia during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road on Friday. The Knights fell to the Eagles 43-33. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland's Aubrin Miller (R) moves past Walled Lake Northern's Savannah Scott during the Battle of Bogie Lake Road on Friday. Miller had a team-high 15 points to help lead the Eagles to a 43-33 win. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
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Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
Lakeland defeated Walled Lake Northern 43-33 in the Battle of Bogie Lake Road played at Lakeland on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (KEN SWART - For MediaNews Group)
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Seemingly bound for overtime with fourth-ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, junior Jacob Lamb helped Brother Rice avoid it with his game-winner underneath the basket as time expired to give the No. 3 Warriors a 66-64 victory Friday night.
Trailing by two after Lamb had split a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left, the ball in crunch time went into the hands of senior Isaiah Hines for the Eaglets at a time where they would have normally looked to their star player, Trey McKenney, who remains sidelined with a hand injury suffered in a Jan. 9 loss to IMG Academy.
Hines, though, proved capable in the clutch, as he drove to his right towards the baseline before pulling up and hitting a fallaway jumper over two defenders with just over 15 ticks to go to tie the game.
Brother Rice senior David Williams brought the ball up the floor quickly before meeting resistance and kicked it out to junior Greg Grays, whose 3-pointer from the right wing hit rim and bounced into the air as time ran under six seconds.
Then, as both teams volleyed for possession of the rebound in the paint, it appeared to briefly land in the hands of a St. Mary’s player, but Lamb rushed in from the opposite block, ripped the ball away, and put up an off-balance shot that left his hand with about nine-tenths of a second remaining that went in to win the game and prompt a court storming that engulfed Lamb.
“I mean, it was just everybody crashing, everybody getting to the basket,” said Lamb, who finished with eight points. “My teammates Jeremiah (Coffey) and Trevor (Smith) crashed to get in there, number two (for St. Mary’s) came down with it, but I crashed in there, and I took the ball right from him and put it back up. It’s an amazing feeling.”
His timely finish broke a five-game losing streak to the Eaglets (9-6), including ones that eliminated the Warriors from the playoffs the past two seasons and another in last year’s CHSL Bishop Championship game.
“That wasn’t our prettiest, but we found a way to get it done, and I’m really proud of our guys,” Warriors head coach Rick Palmer said after his team’s 11th win in a row. “They just battled all night. And credit to St. Mary’s, that’s why they’re defending state champs. We know who didn’t play, but their other guys — Sharod (Barnes) made four or five big shots, Zip (Hines) was unbelievable all night — they’re still a really good basketball team with six, seven, eight college athletes and five or six that are going to play college basketball, so we’re really excited we won, we’re playing the right way, and I thought our team basketball tonight worked.”
Regarding the play by Lamb, Palmer added, “We talk about being us, and being us is playing through the whistle through the horn. (Jacob) had two turnovers down the stretch, missed a free throw down the stretch, but Jacob’s maturing a lot as a young man. He couldn’t have made that play after making those mistakes a year ago … That’s just part of growing up and part of the maturity process, and we’ve got a lot of guys that are playing really mature.”
Brother Rice junior Greg Grays (2) reaches out to defend a 3-pointer by Orchard Lake St. Mary’s senior Sharod Barnes in front of the home student section in the Warriors’ 66-64 win Friday night. (BRYAN EVERSON – MediaNews Group)
Both Grays and Williams already reached double figures by halftime, at which point Brother Rice led 31-27, but the Warriors began to cook behind that pair coming out of the lockers. Grays knocked down a triple and was fouled on a transition basket that helped the Warriors extend their lead to 16 points with over two minutes to go in the third and looked assuredly on course for victory by some margin.
The absence of McKenney, however, didn’t prevent the Eaglets from eventually striking back. They cut the lead to 11 by the start of the fourth quarter, which saw Barnes take over and score 13 of his team-high 23 points. He connected from the corner and was fouled in front of his team’s bench for a four-point play, then knocked down a step-back 3-pointer that made it a five-point game less than a minute later with 4:45 on the clock.
A conventional three-point play by Jayden Savoury got St. Mary’s to within three with just over three minutes left, then the Eaglets got it to within one when Barnes’ driving bucket dropped in with over a minute remaining, making it 63-62.
“I thought we were really getting in the lane and sharing the ball, but I thought we didn’t handle the end of the game well,” Palmer said. “Listen, they hit some bombs — that and-1 three by Sharod, Zip was good all night — and credit to them, they clawed back like a championship team does. The last minute-and-a-half, we were kind of stalling, kind of weren’t, we weren’t sharp with that, so we’ve got to go back and fix that. Honestly, surprisingly, in the stretch, we haven’t had that many tight games. We haven’t had a lot of guys who’ve played in these types of games, so I think we can grow from this.”
Williams and Grays each knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
"We just wanted to come out and win the game, and that's what we did," Grays said. "We prepared for it all week of practice. This was a big game for us. Our student section came out. They did what they're supposed to do and we had to win the game."
Senior Jeremiah Caffey added nine points, including seven in the third quarter, for the Warriors (14-1). Hines ended with 16 points and Savoury added 11 for St. Mary's.
Both teams will host Toledo-based CHSL opponents next. The Warriors get Central Catholic on Tuesday and St. Mary's takes on St. Francis De Sales on Jan. 31.
The home crowd and teammates begin to storm Brother Rice junior Jacob Lamb (3) after his game-winning shot in the Warriors' 66-64 victory over Orchard Lake St. Mary's Friday night. (BRYAN EVERSON - MediaNews Group)
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