The snow started on Jan. 7 just as the sun dipped below the horizon, but inside the CHS gym, the rivalry between Clarkston and Pontiac Northern provided all the heat the packed house needed. In the end, to the delight of the home crowd, the Clarkston varsity basketball team came out on top in the first of two meetings between the two schools, winning 59-48.
Northern came out hot, jumping to an 11-2 lead, but the Wolves wrested control of the game back with a 21-4 run starting at the end of the first quarter and into the second.
‘We were a little nervous. It was just a matter of not folding under pressure,? said senior gaurd Robbie Clark. ‘We practice all year to beat Northern.?
Clark, who finished with a game high 19 points, embodied his postgame comments during the contest. He hit a three-pointer as time expired in the first quarter to giving Clarkston their first lead of the game, 15-13.
‘The difference in the game was us not losing our composure,? said Clarkston Coach Dan Fife.
The Wolves carried the play in the second quarter, leading 28-17 with 1:28 left in the half. Northern stopped turning the ball over (16 first-half turnovers) and cut the deficit to eight, for a halftime score of 28-20.
The two teams traded baskets to start the third. At one point, Northern whittled the Wolves lead to six, and were racing up the floor on a fast break. Seemingly coming from out of nowhere, Clark kept the Wolves in control as he leapt out of his shoes to swat Arthur Wilson’s layup attempt out of bounds.
While the massive rejection was huge for the Wolves, to Clark the play had special significance.
‘I’ve been waiting my whole life to block him,? said Clark, who is friends with and plays on the same AAU team as Wilson.
The Clarkston gaurd was so pumped from the first block that on the next Northern possession he again sent a layup attempt out of play.
‘If Dan Fife and I could combine our squads we’d have a dynasty in this state for years,? said Northern Coach Robert Rogers, whose team out rebounded the Wolves 42-20
Later in fourth quarter, Clark again displayed the shooting touch that had a college scout chatting with him after the game. With Clarkston clinging to a five-point lead, he got a speck of daylight and canned his fourth three-pointer of the evening, even as a Northern foul sent him sprawling to the floor.
As the contest wound down Clarkston was able to seal the game from the free-throw line, shooting 10 of 11 down the stretch. Brad Goodman, who finished with 14 points and three steals, went 4-4 from the line as Clarkston put the game away.
The Wolves are now 6-0, having bested Rochester High 73-51 on Jan. 4. Sophomore Bren Bergquist had 17 points and Junior John Kast added 12 points against the Falcons.
Clarkston’s tilt against Groves finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News. The Wolves play Pontiac Central on Jan. 14.