The tempestuous seas of the OAA Division I have not been easy on the Troy High Colts, whose boat capsized in the Wolves wake as Clarkston led the Jan. 27 contest at one point by a margin of 54-14 with 4:40 left in the fourth quarter. A late rally by Troy did little to swamp the joy of the Wolves home fans, but made the final score a more palatable 61-29.
‘We like to pounce on them early and really take their heart, because once they get some confidence their shots are going to start falling. So if we establish a good defensive front early and start making some shots we’re pretty dangerous,? said Clarkston senior Joe Rademacher who filled out the stat sheet with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
The post game reflection by Rademacher was a blueprint to the Wolves bullying of the Colts as Clarkston rushed out to 10-2 lead after the tip. The Wolves vice grip defense eased for a moment midway through the first quarter, as Troy junior John Lagrou slipped in two straight buckets. The scoring window provided by the Wolves was fleeting however, as Troy would not score again until the second half, going without a bucket throughout the second quarter. The Wolves offense sputtered as well in the second as they only managed 6 points in the second quarter, leading to a 25-6 advantage at the half.
‘They do a great job defensively and they are very well coached ? We do a decent job of scoring off the pass, but we’re not dribble-drivers as much as we’d like to be. So we knew we’d have to set better screens, we worked on it all week. It looked good in practice, but it didn’t look good tonight. Then when we did get any open shots they weren’t going and we weren’t getting any second shots,? Troy Coach Gary Fralick said.
Clarkston harvested the offensive glass for 12 extra possessions and wreaked havoc on the defensive end with five steals and four blocks in the first half.
‘We put two halves together. I thought defensively we were very good on the ball and off the ball, which we had been struggling with. I thought Joe Rademacher was outstanding on defense, he got his hands on a lot of balls and got a lot of deflections,? Clarkston Coach Dan Fife said.
While Troy’s Justin Orow, who led his team with 12 points, broke the Colts? scoreless streak less than a minute into the third quarter, Clarkston romped out of the locker room to a 22-5 advantage in the period, leading going into the fourth quarter leading 47-11. Clarkston senior Joe Moran had 10 of his game high 18 points in the third.
Other individual Wolves lighting up the night were junior Bren Bergquist, who had 10 points, 8 boards, 2 steals and a block; and sophomore Oliver Kupe who off the bench scored 2 of his 4 points on an emphatic break-away dunk, and grabbed 6 rebounds to go with 3 blocks and a steal.
‘My hats off to them, hopefully we will give them a better game when they come down to Troy,? Fralick said.
Clarkston’s victory brings their record to 8-2 (2-2). After losing their first two league games at Pontiac Northern (Jan. 6) and at Pontiac Central (Jan. 17), the Wolves have bounced back with league triumphs at home over Southfield Lathrup (Jan. 20) and now against Troy.
‘I definitely think those games taught us more about leadership and really stepping up to the plate in the fourth quarter because that is where we lost those games. We were right in both of those games in the fourth quarter and that is where (Pontiac Northern and Central’s) experience showed and our inexperience showed. I think we have a lot more experience now and I think those losses were pretty good for us early. I’m glad that happened early in the season,? Rademacher said.
Fife also seems pleased with the way his team has responded to early season disappointment.
‘As long as we can build on this game and not keep taking baby steps and even steps backwards, we can compete like the rest of the Clarkston teams do. Whatever happens, happens, but as long as they play hard and compete hard we’ll be fine,? Fife said.
The home cooking has done the Wolves right as in the midst of reaching .500 in the league they also managed to sandwich in a 63-55 win against Flint Central at home on Jan. 24. Junior Dan Owens led Clarkston in the win 14 points and was joined in the realm of double figure scoring by Moran (10), Bergquist (11) and Rademacher (13).
‘The fans are great, I have about six best friends in the stands and they are here every game. Especially with all the fans, it’s coming back, with all these little kids from McGrath, you saw them all underneath the basket, lining up and wanting our jerseys and stuff. That hasn’t happened since Dane Fife, since we’ve been in this building … Everybody in Clarkston lives and dies by Clarkston sports and I just think it’s great the support they give us and it definitely helps us out having home court advantage. We haven’t lost on this floor in over a year and a half, maybe two years,? Rademacher said.
Clarkston faced the rigors of the road on Jan. 31 at Avondale. The game finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News.
The Wolves entertain Ferndale on Feb. 2 and welcome fellow OAA DI inhabitants West Bloomfield on Feb. 7.