Transition is a part of life and a term synonymous with basketball teams. Transition can also describe Clarkston’s Dan Owens? shift from primarily being an outside shooter for the Wolves last season off the bench, to a powerful-driving force to be reckoned with.
Owens led all scorers with 27 points, a career-high, for Clarkston in its season opener on Dec. 8 against Flint Northern of the Saginaw Valley Conference. The Wolves (1-0) handed a young Vikings (0-1) team a 64-41 loss in front of a strong crowd and a student section anxious to voice its opinion post football season.
The Wolves? no. one point guard Andy Lyons was able to play while still recovering from a groin injury suffered one week ago. Lyons had shades of his spry self, taking five steals from the Vikings, with six assists to go with his 13 points.
Owens shot 50 percent from the floor, while the Wolves as a team were 31 percent on the night. Owens started off cold from the outside and began cutting to the basket.
‘He’s always been a shooter. What I like about him is when he struggled in the first half, he got the ball to the basket,? said Clarkston Coach Dan Fife.
‘Last year he was totally an outside shooter and he wasn’t doing anything if he didn’t get his shot from the outside, so I like the fact he took the ball to the basket and made plays.?
Big man Bren Bergquist added nine rebounds and 15 points for the Wolves, who held Northern at bay in the first half and pulled away in the third quarter, going on a 22-4 run for the stanza.
‘I think we just stepped it up another notch. In the beginning, everybody was a little nervous to make mistakes and in the second half, that’s all out of your system,? Bergquist said.
‘Once we put pressure on them, their guard play just broke down.?
Bergquist returned to the game after sitting early on because he picked up two fouls.
‘It’s really important for our kids to get a win because we haven’t yet established our identity and who we are,? Fife said.
‘Preseason and talk doesn’t mean anything once you start your games, you have to establish yourself on the floor and who you are.?
Although the win was good for the team, the victory was not without flaw.
‘I thought we were really sloppy with the ball and we have to take better care of the ball,? Fife said.
‘A lot of that I’m hoping was just first game jitters. You call those ugly wins and it’s better than pretty losses and we’ll take that and hopefully we can learn from that.?
Flint Northern Coach Darnell Hughley said the game was a good contest for the Vikings. The two schools meet on an annual basis and this season, Hughley leads a team which consists of only two seniors, and four juniors. The other nine members of the squad are only sophomores.
‘I knew we were coming in and going to play a good team and I think my kids, this is their first game, they watched everyone else play, I knew they were going to get nervous,? he said.
‘I got a lot of young guys who have never been in a position like this before playing experienced high school players (and) Clarkston had a good team.
‘We’ve got a long way to go and a lot of hard work to do. Hopefully by tournament time we’ll have come around,? Hughley added.