After nearly two seasons of home victories, the Clarkston basketball faithful stood shocked as Pontiac Central gutted out a 62-54 win over the Wolves on Feb. 16.
‘It was a matter of being focused. We haven’t beat (Clarkston) on their home court in quite a while, but that’s in the past. This is 2006,? said Central junior Dameon Abram, who scored a game high 23 points.
The Wolves did not go down without a fight however. With 3:58 remaining in the fourth quarter, Clarkston trailed 53-42; and if not for hustle plays and steady shooting from Clarkston, the game would have lacked a thrilling finish.
During the final minutes of the game, both junior Andrew Lyons and senior Joe Rademacher were seen diving out of bounds for loose balls, scavenging extra possessions for the Wolves. Rademacher’s save led directly to a jumper by senior Joe Moran which made the score 57-54 with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Moran scored 12 of his team high 21 in the fourth quarter.
After drawing within three points though, the Wolves could not whittle away anymore of Central’s lead as the Chiefs found a hearty vein of accuracy from the free throw line and cashed in for the win, shooting 9/12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.
‘I can’t remember the last time Central beat us two times, but they sure earned it,? Clarkston Coach Dan Fife said.
In a first half featuring nine lead changes, Central led 32-28 at halftime thanks in large part to an 18-13 rebounding advantage and eight turnovers by the Wolves.
The Wolves battled valiantly in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to two points before Abram hit a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer ended to give Central a 42-37 lead entering the fourth. Abrams? long range dagger was a rarity as the Chief’s did the bulk of their scoring, in the second half especially, in the paint.
?(Their dribble penetration) killed us,? Fife said.
Central shot 9/14 in the second half while the Wolves struggled, converting 9/30 shots from the field.
‘Our goal was to make them earn every shot they took. We wanted to stay up on their 3-point shooters and keep them out of the bonus,? Central Coach Albrey Tipton said.
The loss to the Chiefs was the second game for the Wolves in three days. Clarkston repelled Pontiac Northern’s best effort, beating the Huskies 57-54 on Feb. 14.
Everybody wanted to be Bren Bergquist’s valentine as he scored eight of the Wolves? 12 points and was the only Clarkston player to attempt a field goal in the fourth quarter of the victory over Northern
‘Fife said to start looking inside and get me to the free throw line,? Bergquist said. ‘I’ve really found a groove and my teammates trust me.?
After a second half featuring eight lead changes and seven tie scores, Bergquist put the Wolves up for good with a flourish of post finesse, making the score 55-53 with 38 seconds remaining in the game.
On the ensuing possession, the Huskies? Timothy Williams had a chance to tie the game, but only made one of two free throws. Moran made both of his free throws after a quick Northern foul with 7.5 seconds left to give the Wolves their final margin of victory.
‘We needed to see we could win down the stretch when it’s bumper to bumper ? Getting the ball inside was big for us,? said Fife, who credited Moran’s touch on post entry passes to Bergquist.
Bergquist led all scorers with 17 points to go with eight rebounds.
With last week’s action, Clarkston’s league record stands at 5-4, leaving them on the outside looking in on the race for the OAA I title. Central is in first place at 6-2. Northern and Southfield Lathrup each stand at 6-3.
Clarkston’s game at Troy High on Feb. 21 finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News. The Wolves play next at West Bloomfield on Feb. 24 and host Avondale on Feb. 28.