For weeks now the Clarkston varsity girl’s basketball has been running on all cylinders something they showcased in a revenge rematch against Rochester High, on Oct. 21, winning 44-39.
The Wolves were able to score consistently and contained Rochester’s explosive back court, two things that fell out of the game plan in the two teams? first meeting on Oct. 9, a 46-33 Rochester win.
The Wolves were ignited by the play of hustle-queen Leigh Christy who recorded 11 rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass, to go with eight points, three steals and a block.
‘We played awesome. We were ready to beat them,? said Christy, a senior forward. ‘A couple weeks ago they tore us apart … it was not going to happen again,?
The Wolves, as a team, rebounded extremely well, particularly on the offensive end.
‘I would think that ten of (Clarkston’s) points came on offensive rebounds,? said RHS Coach Jeff Haney
Rochester led at the end of the first quarter 12-10, thanks in large part to super sophomore gaurd Brittnay Jones who scored 10 in the opening stanza. Having torched Clarkston for 21 in the previous contest, Jones hit for a game high 19; however she could not keep up her torrid first quarter scoring pace and Clarkston went on an 11-2 run in the second quarter.
‘We had a better grasp of what they were going to do to us,? said Coach Ann Lowney. ‘This is a great win, they are a great team.?
Clarkston was able to maintain their lead in the third quarter thanks to a three-pointer by senior guard Jill Kouri, and an old fashioned three-point play in which junior guard Amanda Kaltz seemed to will the ball through the hoop as she took a hard foul in the paint. Kouri finished with six points and Kaltz had five.
The forth quarter belonged to Stephanie Parkin as the senior forward scored 10 of her team high 12 points. Parkin was cool as ice as Rochester repeatedly put her on the line down the stretch converting six of six from the charity stripe.
The win put Clarkston into the black on the season as they are now 7-6 (4-3)
‘A lot of people have been writing us off this year, but I don’t blame them because we had not been playing well,? said Lowney. ‘We are better than our record and I think we are starting to show that.?