Wolves motor into regional finals for ninth straight year
TIGHT FIT: Clarkston's Alan Kamieniecki and the Wolves have overcome a slow start to win 14 straight and reach the Class A regional finals for the ninth straight season. Statt Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com . To view a photo gallery on hundreds of local sports events. visit www.lmckeephotography.com
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
AUBURN — Clarkston may seem like Norm on the television show ‘Cheers’ when it comes to its boys basketball program playing in the regional round. After all, this is the 18th straight season the Wolves have reached at least the Class A regional semifinals.
On Monday, Clarkston added to its impressive run, earning its 14th straight win by topping Flint Northwestern, 54-40, in a regional semifinal at Bay City Western.
Clarkston (19-5) built a 13-4 lead after the first quarter and a 31-16 lead at the half —and never looked back, earning a spot in Wednesday’s regional finals against host Bay City Western, which turned back perennial power and third-ranked Saginaw, 55-47, in Monday’s other semifinal.
Bay City Western is paced by Michigan State recruit Matt Costello.
“Bay City Western is very big and talented. Plus, they just beat Saginaw,” said veteran Clarkston coach Dan Fife. “They will cause some matchup problems for us. They have a 6-9 kid going to Michigan State and a 6-8 kid going to Saginaw Valley. I don’t even know their names, I just know they are big. They also have a 6-5 guy that’s pretty good, too. We don’t have that kind of size.
“Our guards are going to have to play very well and we can’t get into foul trouble with our post players,” added Fife. “We are going to have to shoot it awfully well to beat this team.”
Against Northwestern, Clarkston’s lead ballooned to 21 points with five minutes left in the third stanza and the Wildcats could never trim the deficit down to single digits the rest of the way. Northwestern outscored Clarkston 24-23 in the second half, but never made a serious run on the Wolves.
“I know Northwestern was missing two of their guys,” admitted Fife. “It was a sloppy, ugly game. But the kids found a way to win. I guess that’s important this time of year.”
Marcy Hardy led Clarkston with 17 points. Mitch Baenzinger added 14 points and Nick Tatu scored 11 for the Wolves.
Jaylen Magee led Northwestern (14-10) with 14 points, while Carl Jackson twined eight points for the Wildcats.
Clarkston lost in the regional finals to Southfield last season after reaching the Final Four in 2009. The Wolves also reached the state quarterfinals each year from 2003 to 2008. They also reached the quarterfinals in 1996 under Fife.
The last time Clarkston failed to reach the at least the Sweet 16 was in 2002, when the Wolves were ousted in the regional semifinals to Pontiac Northern (51-38). The last year Clarkston did not win a district title was 1993.
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Category: Clarkston, Prep Wraps
