With a swift swing of his lacrosse stick senior Kevin Horton ended the game against Okemos with the game winning goal in overtime, 11-10.
“He had a nice weekend,” said Clarkston Boys Varsity A Lacrosse Head Coach Brian Kaminskas. “He is a captain and a returning leader. He started to show his old form which is a great time to show it.”
The score remained tied throughout the game between the two teams leading to the overtime period with both teams at 10 points after scoring four goals each in the second half.
“It was a great game,” Kaminskas added. “That is what you get when you get two of the top teams in the state going against each other. It was a nicely fought game. We came out more focused.”
Horton and sophomore Reid Kaminski had three goals. Senior Travis Crafts scored two goals while seniors Jordan Kincaid, Kevin O’Grady and Sam Moore added one goal each.
On defense seniors Nick Demattia, Ethan Frick, Evan Kneisel and junior AJ Schlaff had a combined 10 ground balls and seven takeaways.
The boys beat Rochester Adams on Friday, 12-10. Craft led the team with six goals.
“It was huge,” added Kaminskas. “It was a nice job and he did a nice job against Okemos, too.”
The boys held onto the lead going into half time after the Highlanders outscored Clarkston 3-1.
“A lot of credit to Adams – they have a lot of good athletes on the team,” said Kaminskas. “They certainly hustled a lot more than we did. We came out a little flat and disinterested. We weren’t prepared mentally as we should have been. Adams stayed with us and did a nice job. Our skills may have separated us from them a little bit and allowed us to sneak out the victory.”
O’Grady and Horton had two goals each as Kincaid and Moore had one goal each.
Adam Gohl saved 11 shots and the Wolves made 24 shots on the Highlanders.
Demattia, Frick, Kneisel, Schlaff and junior Preston Haven had a combined total of 15 ground balls and eight takeaways.
The Wolves face OAA foes this week beginning with Stoney Creek, then North Farming on Friday and Lake Orion on Saturday.
“It is an exciting, busy week,” Kaminskas added. “Thankfully we have a few days off before our big weekend. We had a lot of things exposed to us during the past weekend. We have some work to do but it will be a good week. The guys are looking forward to the OAA games. It is a good reason to be focused and come out strong.”
The boys host Farmington on Friday and host crosstown rivals Lake Orion during their annual Game for a Cure game on Saturday, both games at 7 p.m.
“They are probably the tougher of the three teams this week,” said Kaminskas. “They are on seven game winning streak. They will come into the game pretty focused and ready to go.”
The Clarkston Girls Varsity Lacrosse team also plays during Game for a Cure with their game against Rochester Adams slanted for 2:30 p.m.