A few weeks after Clarkston got a big revenge win on the gridiron, the Lake Orion girls? basketball squad did its best to resolve the issue on the hardwood.
Sophomore Bethany Watterworth scored 14 points after the break to help the Dragons upset the Wolves 50-47 in the first round of district play at Oxford High School on Nov. 14.
Both teams had 14 wins in the regular season, but Clarkston got its victories while playing in the top division of the Oakland Activities Association while the Dragons play in Division III.
But a Dragon team with no seniors showed a great deal of composure, coming from behind in the final minutes of the playoff opener.
Three sophomores led Lake Orion (Watterworth, Courtney Zott and Melanie LaMerato) combining for 39 points, led by Watterworth’s 16.
‘When she gets the ball down there (in the post), she’s tough to stop,? Clarkston Coach Tim Wasilk said.
Zott’s eight points helped the Dragons jump out to a 15-5 lead after one quarter, but the Wolves responded and took a one-point lead into the half.
After the teams traded buckets for much of the third quarter, Clarkston scored the final five of the stanza on a Sam Carter three-ball and Jen Johnston jumper, to take a 36-32 lead.
That lead grew to five at 39-34 when Johnston hit a three early in the fourth quarter.
The Dragons made their move, going on a 10-0 run to take a five-point lead of its own with 3:44 remaining.
Down four in the final two minutes, Carter hit yet another three and Jess Palace added a baseline jumper to put the Wolves back in front 47-46.
Out of a timeout, Lake Orion went inside to Watterworth, who got free for a lay-up, then made a block on the other end.
Still, Clarkston, down just one, had two good looks from three-point range in the final minute, but Chelsea Kouri couldn’t quite find the mark.
Kouri, a senior who has committed to Wayne State University next year, was the Wolves leading scorer during the regular season.
‘She got an open look,? Lake Orion Coach Steve Roberts said. ‘It didn’t drop for them and we got the ball back.?
With a chance to ice the game at the free-throw line, LaMerato missed the front-end of a one-and-one free throw situation, but Lake Orion’s Cortney Kimmel tied Kouri up for the jump ball.