A giant will only wait so long before knocking down the door; a lesson Clarkston’s basketball team learned on Sept. 22 against West Bloomfield in a 51-44 loss.
The Wolves held a 26-25 halftime lead over the Lakers, the No. 8 ranked team in Class A, thanks to 48 percent shooting from the field.
‘Every time we come in here, we have a hell of a time getting out of here. I’m just glad to get out of here with a ‘W.? It’s always tough here in Clarkston,? West Bloomfield Coach Larry Moore said.
The turning point of the contest proved to be in the third quarter as West Bloomfield out scored Clarkston 15-8. Especially damaging to the Wolves were three third quarter three-pointers by the diminutive Laker guard Lauren David.
?(David) hit three in a row there, that really changed the momentum of the game,? Clarkston Coach Tim Wasilk said.
West Bloomfield staunched the Wolves offense in the second half by shutting down the back-door pass to the base line, which the Wolves used effectively in the first half. The two teams also flip-flopped shooting percentages as Clarkston shot 8/27 from the field in the second half, compared to the Lakers? 7/13 shooting from the field and 9/12 from the free throw line.
‘In the last couple games, we’ve done a nice job of getting consistent scoring and in the first half today, but we got cold in the second half. When we have those open looks we have to knock them down,? Wasilk said.
Senior forward Amanda Kaltz and junior guard Chelsea Kouri each had 10 points to lead Clarkston in scoring. Kaltz added five rebounds for the Wolves.
West Bloomfield senior forward Randall Hurst led all scorers with 15 points.
Clarkston’s record now stands at 3-4(2-1).
On Sept. 20, Clarkston set a season high in points, defeating Southfield High 54-45. Kouri led all scorers with 16 points and sophomore guard Jennifer Johnston added 11 points in the Wolves win.
Like their contest with West Bloomfield, Clarkston’s next game is another stiff league challenge at No. 4 Southfield Lathrup on Sept. 29.
The Wolves match-up with Waterford Mott on Sept. 27 finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News.