Livonia – For the fourth year in a row, two arch-rivals will battle it out for the CHSL C-D Division girls basketball championship.

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, the two-time defending champion, will tip off at 1 p.m. Sunday at U-D Mercy Calihan Hall against Mt. Clemens Cardinal Mooney.

The Lakers and Cardinals split their regular season games, each winning on its home court. In the last 12 confrontations over the past three-plus years, each has won six.

The Lakers are also defending Class D state champions. The two schools have been ranked in the top six in Class D all season long.

Lakers 53, Fighting Irish 49

The last time Lauren Robak played before last Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Riverview Gabriel Richard, she scored a career-high 37 points against Royal Oak Shrine – even though she was ailing with what was thought to be flu-like symptoms.

A visit to the doctor the next day revealed she had mononeucleosis.

Her coach –and father – Steve Robak said he would play her “a minute here or there, as needed” against Gabriel Richard. She was needed more than her coach-father would have liked, but Lauren, visibly a bit bedraggled, responded with 15 points, including four critical free throws in the last 90 seconds, for a Lakers 47-42 win and entry to Saturday’s semi-finals against Pontiac Notre Dame Prep at Madonna University.

The 5-foot-10 senior guard didn’t start against the Irish either. When she did get in the game at 5:03, Notre Dame, sparked by eight points from 6-foot-1 senior forward Jane Fountain, had a 12-2 lead.

Lauren and her sister, sophomore guard Lexie, combined for all the points in a four-minute, 10-3 Lakers run before halftime to close the deficit to 26-20.

Notre Dame went on a 13-5 run to build a commanding 39-25 lead with a minute and 52 seconds to play in the third quarter.

“We never stopped working hard,” Steve Robak said after the game, making that the understatement of the season.

In the remaining nine minutes and 52 seconds of the game, the Lakers outscored the Irish 28-10 for a dramatic come-from-behind victory.

A couple of unsung heroes got the Lakers started on their victory march. Junior guard Carlee Cottrell scored quick back-toback baskets to start the fourth quarter  to narrow the deficit to 43-40.

Energetic sophomore guard Ava Doetsch intercepted a pair of passes, one she took in for a lay up herself, the other she relayed to Lauren for a basket that tied the game at 43-43 with 4:04 to play.

In the heat of the battle, the fight from the Irish was dealt major blows with the loss of three starters on fouls: senior guard Brooke Borowski at 4:51 with the Irish ahead 43-40; Fountain whistled for an illegal screen at 2:36; and moments later, junior point guard Kiaya Bowman.

“We were pretty much in control until my three top players fouled out,” said Irish coach Pat Batani afterward. “I had 35 points (combined average per game) sitting on the bench. We were hanging on for life in the last two minutes.”

The nail in the Irish coffin was driven in by Lauren Robak with 68 seconds to play when she grabbed a rebound, went the distance of the court to the left corner, and cooly sank a three-point basket to give the Lakers their first lead of the game, 51-48.

Lauren led all scorers with 24 points, including 16 in the second half. Cottrell had 15, with 12 in the second half.

Fountain with 15 and Borowski with 13 paced the Irish.

Steve Robak thought Lauren was only about “20 percent” healthy. She has a week to get up to a 100 percent for the showdown with Cardinal Mooney.

Cardinals 54, Lady Monarchs 35

Cardinal Mooney had a much easier journey getting to the C-D championship game.

They used their height advantage to score at will for an 18-4 first quarter lead, expanded it to 33-14 at the half, then to 49-23 after three quarters enroute to a 54-35 conquest of Allen Park Cabrini. Last Thursday, Mooney disposed of Madison Heights Bishop Foley, 63-38, in the quarterfinals.

“We had the size advantage,” said Cardinals coach Susan Everhart. “We used the high-low to perfection at the start. The kids were making good decisions.”

Size mattered to Cabrini coach, Mike Rozanski, too. “We missed a lot of shots. Once we got behind the eight-ball, there wasn’t much we could do.” The Lady Monarchs bested Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard, 57-52 in overtime, to qualify for the semi-finals.

Senior center Breagh Beaton had 20 points and junior Sarah Theut 11 to pace the Cardinals. Cabrini was led by 11 points from senior Molly Copple and eight by junior Danielle Lollo.