Senior Clarkston guard Brad Goodman may not have started the game against Flint Northern on Dec. 10 but he made sure he finished it. Goodman had six of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to seal a 57-48 victory.
‘Tonight it just came down to our kids? effort,? said Coach Dan Fife. ‘We were over matched in speed, strength, height and weight, but our effort was good.?
Goodman, who came off the bench, typified the effort his coach described, when in the fourth quarter he went to the rack hard, absorbed the contact, and found a way to softly bank the ball through the hoop? all before he crashed to the floor. Goodman’s subsequent foul shot gave Clarkston a 10 point lead.
After the Vikings? J’Nathon Bullock, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds, scored on the ensuing possesion to make it an eight point game, Goodman responded with a three pointer from the top of the key, giving Clarkston an 11 point cushion.
‘You never catch (Clarkston) standing around. They do a very good job of working together,? said Northern Coach Darnell Hughley. ‘That’s why we play them every year.?
Early in the game, Clarkston and Northern were happy to run all day. Twice in the first half, junior John Kast got a rebound on the defensive end and took it coast to coast for a layup. Kast finished with 15 points.
?(Northern) would score and we would come back and score just as easily,? said Fife.
The wild back and forth play led to a 13-13 tie at the end of the first quarter.
Kast hit a three pointer at the start of the second, which keyed a 15-4 run by the Wolves. The Vikings battled back, but at the half Clarkston held a 30-25 lead.
‘We were pushing the ball up the floor and it was hard for (Northern) to come out and press our guys,? said Fife.
In the third quarter, Clarkston slowed the game down and showed the home crowd a little taste of what the half-court offense is going to look like this year. Clarkston employed a motion offense, packed with dribble hand offs and screens, to emphasize their talented guard’s quickness. Goodman, Kast and Robbie Clark, who had 12 points in the game, were able to continuously weave around the three point arc until an open shot or lane presented itself.
‘We are trying to do some new things out there,? said Fife. ‘Our offense is a work in progress.
Whether the offense needs work or not, the effect on the game was immediate and detrimental to Northern’s chances for winning.
Clarkston not only burned huge spans of time off the clock, at one point ticking off over a minute on a single possesion, but also forced Northern to settle into their half court set as well, which was not extremely successful.
Clarkston’s guards, especially Scott Lyons who started the game in lieu of Goodman for his defensive prowess, were able to quickly double Northern’s bigs, yet got back on the ball quick enough to prevent pentration into the lane.
Clarkston is now 1-0 heading into a rematch with Flint Carmen Ainsworth on Dec. 15. The school which has ousted the Wolves in the State tournament the past two years. Both games went to overtime between Carmen and Clarkston.
The Wolves will close out their week at Rochester Adams on Dec. 17.