By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
Waterford — The Wolves came out of the locker room skipping in celebration after winning the MHSAA Division 1 Boys Basketball District 28 Championship with a 65-56 win over Waterford Mott last Friday.
“Our guys were dialed in,” said Clarkston Boys Varsity Basketball Head Coach Tim Wasilk after the game at Waterford Kettering. “It was a great night for Clarkston Basketball. We talked about winning three games in five days and winning a district. We had Pontiac, Avondale and Mott. We knew they were going to be good teams. We got our kids dialed in, and they bought into what we were trying to do on both ends of the floor. Tonight it all came together. Our defense was good. At times we had some lapses, but we went inside and we shot the ball really well from the perimeter.”
Senior Peyton Fitzsimonds got the Wolves started with a 3-pointer five seconds into the game.
Clarkston built a 8-point lead with a basket from sophomore Hayden Flavin and a 3-pointer from senior Matthew Pflieger before Mott got on the board with a 3-pointer from sophomore Greg White.
The first quarter ended with Mott in the lead 16-15.
Mott opened the second quarter with four points and the Wolves came back to go on a 12-point run to grab the lead, 27-20. The run included six points from sophomore Cole Charter and five points from junior Quinn Rosenberg, including a 3-point shot.
Mott closed the gap in the last two minutes and the teams went with the Wolves leading 30-29.
Pflieger set the momentum in the second half scoring on two 3-pointers in the first 55 seconds of third quarter.
“It was nice to see him come out in the second half and hit three 3-pointers,” said Wasilk. “He had 19 points and five threes tonight. He shot the ball extremely well. He’s a tough kid. He’s a senior leader and captain for us. He’s been here for three years so he was ready for the moment. It was great to see.”
The Wolves continued to hold onto the lead to finish the night with the win.
“Mott is really athletic,” said Wasilk. “It’s unfortunate that their best player, their point guard, I think broke his nose in the first quarter and didn’t come back. Their coach Jeff Jayson is a great coach. They’re a good team so it’s tough to see them not be able to play with their leader on the floor. But at the same time from our perspective, whoever we are going against we got to play and play to win.”
Rosenberg scored 14 points and had three field goals. Charter and Flavin each scored 11 points. Junior John Kaul scored four points and sophomore Hayden Burrow had three points from a field goal in the fourth quarter.
“Charter handled the point extremely well tonight, had some great drives to the buckets, had good passes,” said Wasilk. “Flavin was good inside. Our bench guys were good, Kaul and Barrow. Fitz was solid tonight, too. Defensive efforts all around our bench. We have really good chemistry on this team. The guys who aren’t getting in the games are really good in practice. They are good team players. We’ve had a lot of coachable kids on this team and it’s been a pleasure to go to these guys.”
The district win marked the 39th consecutive season the Wolves have won a league and/or district championship for the program.
Clarkston opened the district with a 58-48 win over Pontiac on Feb. 26. They grabbed the lead with three field goals from Rosenberg with less than four minutes in the first quarter and held onto the lead throughout the game.
Flavin led with 18 points. Charter scored 16 points and Rosenberg had 14 points.
Clarkston played a closer game against

Avondale in the district semifinal on Feb. 28, 37-35.
Flavin led with 12 points. Charter scored eight points. Rosenberg and Fitzsimonds each had seven points.
The Wolves (14-11) played Grand Blanc (15-8) in the MHSAA Division 1 Regional 8 Semifinal on Tuesday.
“We scrimmaged them over Christmas, and they’re super talented,” said Wasilk. “We’ll enjoy tonight and then just get back at it tomorrow.”
The winner plays Orchard Lake St. Mary’s/Milford winner on Thursday in the regional final at Milford High School, 7 p.m. The regional champion moves on to the quarterfinal at the University of Detroit Mercy on Tuesday, March 12.

  Boys Basketball, Clarkston Athletics