The Lady Wolves fought back against the pressure from Stoney Creek last Thursday for a 33-23 win.
“They pressured us with a press break with a lot of errors and bad passes in the first half,” said Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball Head Coach Christine Rogers. “We handled the pressure, but we were getting down to our end of the floor so flustered from the pressure that we rushed our offense. A lot of our turnovers we had already broken the pressure, but we threw the ball away because we were trying to keep going quickly.”
She added the Lady Wolves controlled the tempo more in the second half and outscored the Cougars during the third quarter beginning with 3-pointers from senior Kayla Russell and junior Kristen Page.
“When we got down to our end of the floor we realized we handled the pressure and now we could run our offense,” Rogers said.
She added it was a lower scoring game than the Lady Wolves are used to, but the girls shared in the scoring.
Sophomore Maddie Beck led the team with 10 points. Senior Kayla Russell scored eight points and sophomore Kayla Luchenbach had six points, five blocks and 18 rebounds.
The Lady Wolves lost to Farmington Hills Harrison on Jan. 15, 54-45. Rogers added the girls rebounded well in the win against Stoney Creek after the loss.
“We were able to work on the things our loss to Harrison showed us needed work. We spent some time in practice,” she added.
Clarkston (10-1, 3-1 OAA Red) opened the week on Tuesday against Southfield Lathrup and continue their road games as they head to Royal Oak on Friday and Rochester Adams next Tuesday.
“Lathrup is really good,” Rogers said. “We know the things we have to work on and know the things we are good at could give Lathrup a run for their money. Royal Oak is winable if we do all the preparation we need to do.”
She added strengths going into this week are the girls ball handling and confidence.
“We are a lot more patient and more confident with the ball in our hands. Kailan Mehta and Maddie Beck didn’t play varsity last year. They are brand new so getting 11 games under their belts is helping them,” she said. “We are really starting to rebound well.”
JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.