Clarkston’s varsity girls basketball team held off a
hungry Pontiac Northern squad for a 46-41 victory on
Thursday Sept. 7.
‘Did we have 32 minutes of mistake free basketball?
No, but we kept our composure and we kept battling,?
said Clarkston Coach Ann Lowney. ‘It was a good, good
win tonight.?
Clarkston jumped out to a 15-8 first quarter lead.
Pontiac was able to stay in the game by pounding the
offensive glass and was helped by five first quarter fouls
on Clarkston.
‘We could have played better, we missed a lot of
layups and we weren’t focused,? said Pontiac Northern
Coach Leola Greer.
Northern made up for poor, and at times wild shooting,
in the second quarter by playing a suffocating full
course press and continuing to grab offensive rebounds.
Junior guard Melissa Martinez helped Clarkston keep
pace by scoring four of her nine points in the second.
Stephanie Parkin, who scored a game high 14, also
chipped in four points in the second quarter.
‘We kept out calm and we were able to make key
at key times,? said Martinez.
In the third, Northern was able to get some shots
to fall and their press started to force Clarkston turnovers.
Freshmen guard Ashley Jackson got Pontiac as
close as they would come to a lead when her put back
with 25 seconds left in the third cut the Clarkston advantage
to three. Junior guard Tamara Green immediately
answered back with a layup from the baseline
making the score 39-34 at the end of the third.
‘We got a little passive and they started putting more
pressure on us,? said Green.
Pontiac Northern played with an inner fire in the
fourth quarter as they tried to claw their way back into
the game, but their intensity was matched by a Clarkston
team still smarting from a 10 point loss to number one
ranked Southfield Lathrup on Oct. 5. Senior forward Leigh
Christy, who scored six, swished home two free throws
down the stretch and Parkin added three from the line to
seal the game for the Wolves.
Clarkston is now 6-5 overall and 2-3 in the league.
The loss ran Northern’s record to 5-7 (3-1).
Clarkston’s game on Oct. 12 against Auburn Hills
Avondale finished to late for this edition of The Clarkston
News. The Wolves next game is Oct. 14 at Troy Athens.