It’s always important to maintain a high-level of play, and the Clarkston Wolves are doing that so far this season.
Clarkston defeated Carman Ainsworth 76-61 on the road Dec. 12, to improve to 2-0.
Dan Owens continued his scoring binge, dropping 28 in the win. Bren Bergquist, also experiencing an early-season scoring surge, had 19 points and Andy Lyons scored 13 points for the Wolves. Clarkston increased its 10-point lead after the first quarter to 12 points at the half, leading 39-27.
The Wolves led by 20 points at the end of the third quarter.
‘We shot the ball very well as a team, (but) we didn’t rebound particularly well,? Clarkston Coach Dan Fife said.
‘It was a good environment for us, playing away in someone else’s gym in a very competitive game, and we responded.?
The Wolves seemed to recover from their first game jitter bugs at a season-opening victory over Flint Northern on Dec. 8.
‘We played better and took care of the ball better,? Fife said.
‘I was happy with the response from the first game to the second game. I thought we improved,? he added .
Carman Ainsworth Coach Rory Mattar said his team played well, but not well enough to take the win.
‘We played pretty well, but not very smart. We made poor decisions offensively,? he said.
‘Clarkston played much more physical and our guys didn’t respond to that.?
Mattar said his team was too impatient in its decision making.
‘We took the first shot we got and we weren’t patient on the offensive end,? Mattar said.
The Cavaliers, of the Big-Nine Conference, suffered with the loss of point guard John Lee, who sat much of the first and second quarters of the game while in foul trouble.
‘He’s our main player, we struggle without him,? Mattar said.
Lee did score 12 points, as did Reggie Stallings for the Cavaliers. Clarkston will take part in a basketball showcase at Flint Central on Dec. 21.