BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Wolves shared smiles and hugs after winning their third consecutive district championship on Friday night.
“We came out exactly the way I wanted to,” said Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball Head Coach Aaron Goodnough, following the 62-38 win over Waterford Kettering in the MHSAA Division 1 District 6 game.
The Captains opened the game with two points on the line from senior Markayla Holland when a technical was called on Clarkston for the wrong jersey.
The Wolves responded with a 11-point run started by a three-pointer from senior Maddy Skorupski which was followed by a steal and 2-point shot from Skorupski.
Clarkston kept Kettering to seven points in the first quarter as they led by 21.
“It’s exactly what you want,” Goodnough said. “We have a tendency to come out a little flat and we have a tendency to come out a little flat in the third quarter as well. I was so happy. We were up 17 points (at halftime) and we came out third quarter and just continued doing exactly what we wanted to do. We probably did a little better in the fact we were moving the ball on offense.”
Skorupski led the night with 38 points.
“Maddy was just incredible tonight,” said Goodnough. “She wanted to keep going. It was like we are thinking bigger picture and you need to think bigger picture with us. I completely understand what she wants to do. She wants to play all the time.”
Junior Ava Hernandez had seven points.
“When Ava was in she did an awesome job,” said Goodnough, adding junior Anna Thomas was great. “Anna had been out with a concussion for a couple of weeks, when she came in she was as tough as can be. We don’t look for her for scoring but she is always there for a rebound and she did a great job.”
Izzy Hadley and Keira Tolmie had six points each. Tolmie scored her six points off back-to-back field goals in the second quarter.
“I was really happy with Keira,” said Goodnough. “She defended the toughest player on the court and I just had her do it for three quarters. She did a great job and still managed to find her own offense. I was thrilled. Keira did a great job.”
The Wolves defeated Waterford Mott in the district semifinal on Wednesday, March 2, 54-9.
“Mott is kind of really young and we knew that,” Goodnough said. “We just didn’t want to have a let down. We wanted to play our subs. I also wanted to see what we had coming up in the future.”
Clarkston jumped to a 6-0 lead with points from sophomore Emily Valencia, Skorupski and Tolmie before the Corsairs scored two points.
The momentum for the Wolves continued to build and junior Mia Zorski finished the first quarter with a 3-pointer to put the score 24-6.
Skorupski led with 20 points and Tolmie had 16 points.
“Maddy we put her out there and told her to facilitate,” Goodnough said. “We didn’t run too deep into our play book because we didn’t need to. We will have teams that will chase Maddy around the court or they are going to chase her or Izzy around the court. We have some things to counteract that. But tonight if we could bring all the girls into the fold, then do it.”

He added Valencia and senior Sophia Walker had good games.
“Emily played really well,” Goodnough said. “She’s getting more aggressive. She is a young kid in the program. Sophia played really well on defense. She’s doing things on defense we need all of our girls to do. We are saying watch her.”
He added there are things the team still need to work on but they are excited to move to the next round.
” I told them this is our ‘get to’ season,” he said. “We get to have another practice. We get to have another game. They have kind of taken that on and yes we get to practice tomorrow. We get to play another game. We have aspirations beyond here.”
Clarkston played Lake Orion in the regional semifinal on Tuesday and won 61-47 with Skorupski leading with 42 points.
“I am happy we are there,” Goodnough said. “We are familiar with the teams that are there. Lake Orion is more our height. For us it’s the next step.”
Clarkston and Hartland play on Tuesday for the MHSAA Girls Basketball Division 1 Region 2 on Thursday at Fenton, 7 p.m. The regional champion moves on to Quarterfinal 1 at Lapeer High School on Tuesday, March 15, 7 p.m.

  Clarkston Girls Basketball, Girls Basketball