BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Lady Cagers were back to work on Monday afternoon getting ready for their showdown with Southfield Arts & Technology this Thursday.
A win over the Warriors will tie the Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball team for the OAA Red league title.
Christine Rogers, head coach, added last Friday’s 55-38 win over Farmington Hills Harrison helps the girls going into the game.
“We didn’t play a game for a week and it helped us get back into the groove,” she said. “It helped us get back into playing and having the things we do count. It showed us the things we still need to work on this week in order to beat Southfield.”
The girls opened the game with a 9-2 run with five points from junior Maddie Beck and two points each from juniors Kayla Luchenbach and Molly Nicholson. They finished the first stanza with four more points from Beck to put the score 16-7.
“Kayla and Maddie combined for a great game,” Rogers added. “My ball handlers continued to show patience and leadership. Kristen Page bounced back from her injured knee to have one of her best games of her season – that was really nice.”
She said patience was the key especially after the Lady Hawks closed the gap to six points at the end of the first half.
“We knew we were going to be mismatched size wise,” Rogers said. “We knew they were going to put some pressure on the ball, but we couldn’t let it take us out of our game. We still needed to run our offense and take advantage of our size and our height and our quickness to score.”
Clarkston opened the third quarter with two points from Luchenbach off Page’s rebound. Harrison scored their own basket to be matched with two points from junior Kiana Ayotte off a pass from Luchenbach.
Beck opened the distance with a 3-pointer before freshman Taylor Heaton connected two passes to Luchenbach for two consecutive baskets.
“It was a good win for us,” said Rogers. “We started to play like we have wanted to the last couple of weeks.”
Beck led the team with 24 points and Luchenbach scored 18 points, had six rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
The Lady Wolves head to Southfield on Thursday and are back home on Tuesday when they host Stoney Creek during the fourth annual Hoops for Troops.
The Lady Wolves invite the community to join them as they raise money for the North Oakland Veterans Treatment Court, which is made of a group of veterans and community volunteers with the goal to help struggling veterans assimilate back into civilian life.
“Hoops for Troops is supporting a very important cause, helping veterans who have returned home to some obstacles and found themselves in trouble with the law,” Rogers said. “It is giving them an alternative way to put their lives back on track instead of getting stuck in the criminal system where they have more problems piled on top of them. This is an incredibly important organization which helps men and women who gave part of their lives to keep us safe.”
JV hosts Stoney Creek at 5:30 p.m., varsity (12-2) follows.
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The Clarkston Girls Freshman Basketball team came out of overtime against Millington with a 24-23 victory, Jan. 25.
The Lady Wolves went into the second half with a 13-9 lead and Jessi Buscher widened the gap with four quick points to open the third quarter.
Millington caught up by the end of the fourth quarter. The Lady Wolves opened overtime with one point off a free throw from Sierra Waitkus.
Cassidy Smock led the team with nine points and had four rebounds. Buscher scored eight points and had nine rebounds. Sarah Bailey added five points and ten rebounds.
The girls head to Southfield Arts & Technology on Thursday, 4 p.m. and are home on Tuesday against Stoney Creek, 5 p.m.

  clarkston, Girls Basketball