There are two possible explanations for a coach to clear his bench. One, the team is playing pathetically poor, or two, the team is playing fantastically well.
On Jan. 28 the Wolves gave their coach, Dan Fife, both reasons to call for his second unit. The bench was deployed after the Clarkston starters let the Eagles claim a 21-8 second quarter lead; and for a second time with the Wolves comfortably ahead 53-35 in the fourth.
‘The first group made me mad. I just went ‘Hey, the other kids have been working hard in practice and doing a good job, so let them have a chance, they can’t screw (the game) up any worse than we were already screwing it up,?? said Fife.
Fife’s gambit payed off as Clarkston staunched Ferndale’s scoring torrent by pressuring the ball and crowding the passing lanes. Ferndale’s Tory Anderson pumped in eight of his 21 points in the first quarter. While Anderson continued to score consistently, the rest of the Eagles struggled to find shots.
‘I don’t want to leave anybody out, but (senior Joe) Rademacher came in and did a great job for us putting pressure on the ball. I thought he was a big difference in the game. He’s long and he can defend a point gaurd,? said Fife.
Rademacher finished with four points, four rebounds and two steals.
After the Wolves? role players slowed the Eagles down offensively, senior Robbie Clark reentered the game and took over. Clark poured in 12 of his game high 30 points in the second quarter, as he attacked the basket passionately either scoring on layups or from the free throw line.
‘In year’s past (Robbie) would have kept shooting the outside shot and trying to beat them with his jump shot, but today he got to the basket and made layups and got free throws,? said Fife. ‘When you are struggling from the outside, you have to get to the free throw line. You have to get a different shot than what you have been shooting.?
Clark had begun the game shooting one of four from the field.
‘I could not hit any shots, so I just took it to the basket. We had to get points somehow. I did not want to lose that game tonight, to a Division III team and everything,? said Clark.
Clark’s outburst keyed a 15-4 Clarkston run to close the half, cutting Ferndale’s lead to two, 25-23.
The Wolves soon returned to the court and continued what they had started. Less than a minute into the third quarter, Sophomore Bren Berquist put back an errant shot, giving Clarkston their first lead of the game, 26-25. Berquist finished with 11 rebounds, three points, and a block.
Clarkston’s other starting senior gaurd, Brad Goodman, then took over the scoring reins, scoring eight of his 11 points in the third quarter. Goodman displayed a dynamic touch around the basket, converting two layups where hard Ferndale fouls had sent him sprawling. Naturally, he calmly stroked the free throws which followed.
‘I think they scored 10 points in the first minute of the second half. We scored 10 points in the whole third quarter and beginning of the fourth,? said Ferndale Coach Greg Williamson. ‘To their credit, they were not going to back down and take a loss easily.?
After being down 13 points in the second quarter the Wolves rally brought the score to 53-35 with three minutes left in the game. Clark had enough gas left in the tank to carry the Wolves again in the fourth scoring 11 points. Ferndale’s garbage time scoring run made the final score 55-43.
Clarkston’s first tilt at fellow league-mate West Bloomfield on Feb. 1 finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News.
The Wolves will host Southfield Lathrup on Feb. 4. The lone notch in the loss column this year for Clarkston came courtesy of Lathrup on Jan. 18, 43-41. That loss dropped the Wolves from fourth in the AP poll for Division I all the way to ninth. However they are still the only team from Oakland County even to crack the honorable mention section of the poll.