Still reeling from their second straight league loss at Pontiac Central on Jan. 17, Clarkston’s basketball team made a strong statement in front of their home crowd defeating Southfield Lathrup 77-54 on Jan. 20.
‘This was a huge win. Coach (Dan Fife) challenged us in practice and we responded,? Clarkston senior Joe Moran said. ‘We’re capable when we want to be, which should be all the time.?
The Wolves had much to atone for as their effort was questioned after losing to Central, 60-49.
?(The game against Lathrup) was a lot better honestly. A lot more competitive, a lot more aggressive, a lot more focused and more like what we should be all about to start with,? Clarkston Coach Dan Fife said. ?(Against Central) I just didn’t think our mental focus, our approach mentally or physically was where it should be for a Clarkston team to play Division I. We can’t go out there and walk around on the floor and expect the other team to roll over.?
Against Lathrup, Clarkston built a 30-19 first half lead and extended their advantage with a 7-0 run to start the second half. Though Lathrup rallied back with an 11-4 spurt of their own, Clarkston closed the third strong, leading 48-35 going into the final quarter.
‘We maintained our poise and every time they made a run at us we kept knocking it off. That’s huge because we hadn’t been doing that. We’d been getting lazy and then not sustaining our intensity and our focus and not been getting good possessions with the ball and not valuing the basketball,? Fife said.
A large dollop of poise came from senior Robbie Ronk who has taken over the bulk of point guard duties in the wake of an injury to senior John Kast. The time line on Kast’s return is estimated between 4-6 weeks.
Perhaps most telling about Ronk’s play is a conversation which occurred as Fife was going to take him out of the game in the second half.
‘Moran said, ‘Coach, we need Robbie in there,? and I said, ‘Joe, it’s about time you said that,? and he said, ‘Well it’s about time Robbie stepped up and played like he is capable,?? Fife said. ?(Ronk) took care of the ball and did what we needed to get us into our offense, to settle us down, keep everybody on task on the floor, doing what a point guard is supposed to do ? he’s a floor general now and we’ve been lacking that.?
With Ronk providing a steady guiding hand, the Wolves out scored the Chargers 29-15 in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to a wide disparity in shooting percentage and procession to the free throw line.
‘We weren’t ready tonight to play basketball. We missed a lot of assignments, we weren’t in tune, we didn’t come with the intensity we would have like to come with, and they did a good job of finding the open guy,? Southfield Lathrup Coach Mike Avery said.
The Chargers desperately tried, and failed to get back in the game with perimeter shooting, going 4 for 19 from the field and 9 for 10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. While Clarkston hit enough of their free throws (11/19) to subvert the Charger’s intentional foul strategy down the stretch while shooting 7 for 9 from the field in the fourth.
Avery thought the Wolves, cornered by an 0-2 league record, were a dangerous opponent coming into the game.
‘I knew coming into the game they were going to be ready, 0-2 in the league, and I knew they were going to be fired up for us because we were in first place in the league,? said Avery.
Pontiac Northern, who beat Clarkston on Jan. 6, is now in first place in the OAA Division I with a 3-0 record after beating Central, 58-56, on Jan. 20. Lathrup is 2-1 having beaten Central and West Bloomfield. Clarkston and Central are tied in the league standings at 1-2.
‘This is a tough place to play in. I would love to see their home record, they don’t lose many at home. You have to play a damn good game to beat Clarkston at home.? Avery said.
At 6-2 overall, Clarkston is undefeated at home this season, though only three games have been played at CHS.
‘It was (helpful) to be at home. We had great crowd support. That was probably as good a crowd as we’ve had in a long time,? Fife said.
Moran led the way for Clarkston in the scoring column in both games this week, finishing with 18 points in a losing effort at Central and 22 in the Wolves win over Lathrup. Lathrup’s Andre Rison led all scorers with 24.
The Wolves will put their unblemished home record to the test as they host six of their next eight games.
A tough Flint Central team came calling on Jan. 24. The contest finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News.
The Wolves host Troy High on Jan. 27, before a quick sojourn to Avondale on Jan. 31. The home stand resumes on Feb. 3 against Ferndale and Feb. 7 with West Bloomfield. Clarkston’s rematch with Lathrup, this time at the Chargers home gym looms on Feb. 10, A week of revenge-tinged games follows as the Wolves host a lovefest with Pontiac Northern on Feb. 14 and invite Pontiac Central to the jungle on Feb. 16.