For the marquee: Athens beats Clarkston for first time
AT ALL COSTS: Troy Athens' Tyler Channell drives for the loose ball against Clarkston Tuesday. Staff Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmkeephotography.com
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
TROY — At this stage of the season, Troy Athens was looking for a win — any type of win.
The Red Hawks, who opened the season 0-3 under a new coach, picked up that much-needed first victory of the season — and it was a marquee win at the very least.
The Red Hawks stymied cold-shooting Clarkston 41-40 Tuesday in Troy, which is believed to be Athens’ first-ever win over Clarkston in boys basketball.
“I would have to venture and say that this is the first time we’ve beaten them,” offered first-year Athens coach Dave Scott. “They’re one of the premier programs in the state. They’ve got great kids and they are so fundamentally sound.
“I thought we played well tonight,” added Scott. “We hit the boards hard and we tried to get the ball inside and go after the ball. We didn’t have anyone with (double digits) in rebounds, but we had some guys with eight or nine. We just hit the glass pretty hard. That was the game-plan.”
Clarkston, which was coming off a 44-38 loss to Flint Carman-Ainsworth the previous Wednesday, shot just 5-for-28 in the first half and just 1-of-6 from the charity stripe. In simple terms the Wolves (1-2) could not buy a basket in the first 16 minutes.
Athens led 18-14 at the half, shooting just 7-for-21 but being more aggressive taking the ball to the basket.
A ball switch at the half helped Clarkston compensate for its shooting woes —temporarily. The Wolves opened the half with a 6-0 run capped by 3-pointer from Nick Tatu to go up 20-18 with 6:00 left in the third.
The set off multiple ties and lead changes throughout the rest of the game. The fourth quarter featured four ties and three lead changes alone, but it was three-pointer off the bench by junior guard Aaron Fox — the Red Hawks’ only triple of the night — that put Athens up for good at 41-38 with 1:45 to play.
Clarkston’s Matt Dellinger scored on a runner with 1:26 left to cut the deficit to one point, and after getting the ball back, the Wolves failed to convert on their final two shots in the final minute. Max Collins’ jumper at the buzzer was way off the mark.
Athens outscored Clarkston 12-9 in the fourth quarter after the Wolves took a 31-29 lead at the end of the third frame.
“We’re just not very good right now,” admitted veteran Clarkston coach Dan Fife. “We don’t run our (offense). We’re just not very good. We didn’t compete tonight and we didn’t deserve to win and we darn near won. The basketball gods are not going to be good to you if you don’t come to compete.”
Tatu, a junior guard and returning starter, single handily carried Clarkston in the second half. Scoring only six at the break, he finished with a game-high 22 points and six steals, including 16 points in the second half. Part of his outburst was draining six three-pointers in the contest, but he shot just 8-for-19 from the floor.
Tatu’s scoring could not save the Wolves, who returned 11 players from last year’s Sweet 16 team. Clarkston shot a dismal 15-for-56 from the floor overall (26.8 percent) for the night and were outrebounded 38-25 in the contest. The Wolves received just 18 points from its other four starters and picked up just one point from its bench players.
The Wolves were also 7-for-21 from outside the arc.
“They shot (the three-pointers) early and kept missing them. When the three pointers aren’t going in you have to move in and take different shot,” said Fife. “We weren’t too good at the free throw line. We were 3-for-12 from the line. They weren’t much better (shooting) 6-for-13, but you’re not going to beat teams shooting like that.”
Clarkston did not have an answer all night for Iowa-bound Jake Duzey in the paint. The 6-foot-4 Duzey finished the night just shy of a triple-double, scoring 13 points with nine rebounds and eight blocked shots. He shut down Clarkston’s 6-6 senior Marcus Hardy, holding him to only four points and six rebounds.
“We just came out and played hard. We hadn’t won yet, so we had to keep up the intensity for the whole game,” offered Duzey. “We lost to Troy the other night so I guess we were (mad) that we lost that game.”
Caleb McIntosh followed with eight points and eight rebounds and Jolly Grewal added six points and eight boards for the Red Hawks.
Junior guard Mitch Baenziger added nine points and six assists for Clarkston.
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Category: Clarkston, Prep Wraps, Troy Athens
