Adams tops Stoney Creek for district title; Clarkston wins 18th straight district crown

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

OXFORD — Basketball has been called a game of runs. That exactly sums it up for Rochester Adams in recent weeks.

The Highlanders who looked dead in the water after dropping four of five games entering February, won for the 10th time in nine games Friday, topping rival Rochester Stoney Creek, 59-53, in a Class A district final at Oxford High School.

Andrew Hammett had 21 points to pace Adams, which will face Pontiac at 7:30 p.m. Monday in a Class A regional semifinal at Southfield. The host Bluejays will face Birmingham Brother Rice is the first semifinal.

“I think over the past three weeks Andrew Hammett has played his basketball at Adams,” said Adams coach John Hall. “He has taken charge out there. He guards the other team’s top player. He scores, rebounds. And I really think he’s become a leader for us. Remember, we have two freshmen and a sophomore out there in our rotation.”

The Highlanders (16-7) won their third district title under Hall, the others coming in 2005 and 2006. Before that, Adams had to go back to 1974 for their last district title.

Adams blasted Stoney Creek by 30 points in their last meeting. This time around the Cougars were within striking distance throughout, although the Highlanders led the whole game.

“It was one of those games, where we would have a 10 or 11-point lead, then they would close it back down to a couple of points. We withstood every run they made at us,” said Hall. “I think the overtime win (in Monday’s first-round game) against Oxford was good for us. We kind of got our feet a little bit. We have some young players that have not been in these (state) tournament situations before. Having a game like that early in the week helped us tonight.

“We’ve won 10 of our last 11, which is a great turnaround because we went thought a rough stretch there,” said Hall. “I think it is guys stepping up and understanding their roles. Andrew Hammett was our only returning starter. We had a bunch of other guys that were role players last year that had different roles this season. I think we are finally put it together.”

Stoney Creek upset Rochester 55-54 on Wednesday for the Cougars’ first-ever district win. There would be no March magic this time around, as Stoney Creek finished the year 7-15 and couldn’t complete the comeback against the Highlanders.

Adams led 16-15 after the first quarter and 33-27 at the half.

The Cougars clawed back with a 16-11 surge to close the deficit down to 44-43 entering the final frame.

Adams outscored Stoney Creek 15-10 in the fourth quarter. The Highlanders were 18-for-26 for the foul line.

Mario Roveda added 11 points, Akhemji Williams followed with nine points and Matt Nestor twined eight points for the Highlanders.

“We knew it would be closer this time,” said Hall.

Alex Jones scored 16 for Stoney Creek. Taylor Rawlings followed with 13 points, Blake Wisemann had nine points and Tyler Curtis scored eight for the Cougars, who made 8-of-14 foul shots, taking 12 less attempts from the charity stripe than Adams.

CLARKSTON 64, GRAND BLANC 45: There have been blowouts and-toe-to-toe wins.  But Clarkston has proven to be golden when it comes to the district level of the boys basketball state tournament.

The Wolves captured their 18^th straight district championship Friday night at Fenton with this 19-point win over the Bobcats.

The last time Clarkston (18-5) did not win a district was 1993. They have won eight regional championships in that stretch as well and reached the Class A state semifinals in 2009.

In this encounter, Clarkston led 16-7 after the first quarter, 28-14 at the half and 43-24 through three quarters, slowly pulling away from Grand Blanc (12-10).

Nick Tatu led Clarkston with 18 points. Mitch Baenzinger and Matt Dellinger added 14 points apiece and Marcus Hardy scored nine for the Wolves, who will face Flint Northwestern on Monday in the Class A regional semifinals at Bay City Central.

William Wheat scored 14 to led Grand Blanc.

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Tags: boys basketball, boys basketball districts

Category: Clarkston, High School, Prep Wraps, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek