Clarkston avenges Pontiac to win seventh straight
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
CLARKSTON — It was a month ago when Clarkston was searching for answers.
The Wolves were sputtering with an uncharacteristic 3-5 record and trying to find the cohesiveness, team defense and depth that has been part of the brand of Clarkston basketball over the decades.
When Pontiac defeated Clarkston 67-51 back on Jan. 18, the Phoenix canned a total of 10 3-pointers in the contest, scoring 30 points (44.8 percent of the team’s total) from beyond the arc. That left the Wolves facing a potential rebuilding campaign and rare losing record at the season’s midpoint.
Clarkston has definitely righted the ship since that fateful blowout day by Pontiac.
The Wolves extended their winning streak to seven games Friday, this time getting the best of visiting Pontiac in a 60-48 OAA Red Division victory.
Clarkston (11-5, 7-2) only committed two second-half turnovers and outscored Pontiac 32-16 in the second half.
“Our attitude (is different) and the energy that we’ve played with — winning helps that,” offered Clarkston coach Dan Fife. “That and making some shots. Sometimes kids struggle on offense and (then) they don’t play defense. I’ve noticed over the years our defense is what we are. We’re not going to out-talent very many (teams). We have to guard people, do the right thing on defense and guard the ball.”
Now, Clarkston has a shot of at least a share of the league title if it wins out.
“I think (the top four teams) are still in it because everybody’s got to play each other,” said Fife. “Anybody can beat anybody. If you saw us earlier, we struggled but we dug ourselves out of a hole. We haven’t won anything yet.”
The situation began to look bleak again for Clarkston against the rival Phoenix. Pontiac’s Anthony Adams gave the Phoenix (11-5, 5-4) a 38-33 lead on a free throw with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
Clarkston’s Marcus Hardy responded with a jumper that ignited a 19-0 run that finally ended with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter on a lay-up by Adams — a span of 7:06 — and the Wolves would never trail again.
“It was more of focusing from the beginning, being active on defense and offense. I noticed in games that I wasn’t scoring I wasn’t moving around,” said Hardy, a 6-foot-7 senior forward who finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. “This game I was more active, more involved.”
Pontiac didn’t have answer for Hardy inside or the Wolves’ second-half turnaround. Mitch Baenziger finished with 15 points, making 11-of-13 free throws, Nick Tatu followed with 12 points and Matt Rodgers chipped in with nine points, four rebounds and four assists for Clarkston.
Twice Adams pulled Pontiac to within two points, converting a three-point play with 3:11 left and again with a pair of free throws with 2:25 remaining that closed the gap to within 49-47. The Phoenix came unglued after that point.
Pontiac was whistled for a pair of technical fouls down the stretch and watched the Wolves shoot 14 free throws in the final 2:39. Clarkston made 13 straight free throws in the final minutes and finished the night 19-for-31 from the charity stripe.
The Phoenix were plagued by foul trouble the whole night, making their aggressive-style defense ineffective. Pontiac did not shoot as crisp as the first time the two rivals played, as they finished the night 16-for-49 (32.6 percent) from the floor and 6-for-10 from three-point range.
“We couldn’t play our normal aggressive defense anymore because we got every foul called,” said Pontiac assistant coach Mychal Covington. “We feast off defense and when you take away our defensive aggression, we can’t do anything about that.”
Clarkston led 17-14 after the first quarter, only to see Pontiac go on a an 18-11 run in the second quarter to build a four-point lead at the half, making 5-of-8 long distance bombs. More importantly, the Phoenix forced 12 first-half turnovers, which helped them grab a 32-28 halftime advantage.
Jamal Barr finished with 15 points for Pontiac, while Adams added 13 points and four assists, but was only 4-of-15 from the floor. Rasheem Ford and Rovaine Churchill both scored six and Michael Williams had seven boards for the Phoenix.
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Category: Clarkston, Prep Wraps
