By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
WATERFORD — With less than two seconds left on the clock Clarkston freshman Brooklyn Covert passed the ball to junior Elia Morgner, who hit a layup.
The basket gave the Wolves a 41-40 lead over Lake Orion to win the MHSAA Division 1 Girls Basketball District 29 Final at Waterford Mott High School last Friday.
“It wasn’t necessarily designed to be a last bucket,” said Aaron Goodnough, head coach for Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball. “It was the second option on the play. But we knew we didn’t need a three. It’s run for a three or a two and they covered the three and we got the two.”
“I knew it was gonna be a battle,” said Bob Brydges, head coach for Lake Orion Girls Varsity Basketball. “They beat us at their place. We beat them at our place by a point. They beat us tonight by a point. It was a great game, They played their hearts out. We played our hearts out. They just made one more shot than we did.”
The Dragons closed the first quarter with a 12-4 lead with a 3-pointer from junior Charlie Peplowski, four points from senior Ryann Pawlaczyk and points on the free throw line from juniors Izzy Wotlinski and Nevaeh Wood.
“We just came out flat,” said Goodnough. “I don’t know if that was the Lake Orion versus Clarkston thing. I’m sure it was to some extent. We didn’t play bad defense in the first half. We just gave up a couple easy buckets. Our first six fouls to get them on the free throw line early were nervous fouls – that’s the only way I can define them. We deserved every six of them.”
The Wolves shot better in the second quarter scoring nine points with a 3-pointer and a free throw shot each from Covert and Morgner and a basket from sophomore Elli Robak.
Clarkston held Wotlinksi and Pawlaczyk to four points each, with the Dragons closing the half leading, 20-13.
“We knew we could turn the pressure up a little bit, but we knew the defense was always going to be there,” Goodnough said.
It was a closer battle during the second half as Clarkston closed in on the score after a 9-point run with three points from senior Emily Valencia and baskets from junior Ellery Hernandez, Robak and Morgner. It closed the gap by three points.
Lake Orion scored twice in the last three minutes in the quarter with baskets from Pawlaczyk and Wotlinski. The Wolves added four more points as well from Morgner and Valencia. The teams headed into the fourth quarter with the Dragons leading, 30-26.
The Wolves cut Lake Orion’s lead down to one point after Morgner scored two points on the free throw line with 4:40 left in the game. She scored another basket after Lake Orion responded with two points.
It was a back and forth battle as Wotlinski scored two points to put the Dragons’ lead back up to three points, 38-35.
Robak scored a basket to cut the lead back down to one point.
Robak scored again with 28.2 seconds left in the game, putting the Wolves up by one point.
Pawlaczyk scored nine seconds later, putting the Dragons in the lead, 40-39. Clarkston called a timeout with 6.2 seconds left in the game.
Robak led the Wolves with 12 points. Morgner scored 11 points and Covert had eight points.
“Elia wanted to come out and perform because we had our OAA coaches meeting and she did not get All-League,” Goodnough said. “She didn’t get an honorable mention. I won’t lie it chapped her pretty good because she’s the back bone of our team, and she handled it well. I said just look at this as another challenge. You got another year here, and she played strong. When she started figuring out that she could go downhill and they would follow her she was huge. And, on the bench and she was the most vocal girl on the bench, too.”
He added Covert and Hernandez had a good night as well.
“Brooklyn continues to impress me,” Goodnough said. “She’s amazing. Ellery has a bad shoulder, she has a bad foot.
Pawlaczyk led Lake Orion with 14 points. Wotlinkski had 13 points and Wood had five points.
The Wolves won the district semifinals against Waterford Mott, 58-18.
Clarkston (18-6) played White Lake Lakeland (20-4) in the regional semifinals on Monday and won, 39-27. The Wolves play Grand Blanc in the MHSAA Division 1 Regional 8 Final at Milford High School on Wednesday, 7 p.m.
“I know Lakeland,” said Goodnough. “I live over in Huron Valley, and I know the coaches. They’re both super. I bet they had about the same game we did because they play that rough. They are athletic They have a couple good shooters on Lakeland.”
The winner moves on to the MHSAA Division 1 Girls Basketball Quarterfinal 4 at University of Detroit – Mercy on March 19, 5:30 p.m.

  Clarkston Athletics, Girls Basketball