Finding themselves in familiar territory March 20 against Saginaw, Clarkston’s basketball team played its fifth consecutive state quarterfinal game. Again, Clarkston played a close game, but came up short. The Wolves fell to eventual state champion Saginaw 44-30 at Saginaw Valley State University after taking a one-point lead into halftime.
The Trojans employed a renowned full-court press to stop the Wolves.
‘We didn’t handle the pressure well all night,? Clarkston coach Dan Fife said.
‘It was like trying to scale a mountain.?
The third quarter, a typical safe-haven for the Wolves, went the way of the Trojans (24-1). Saginaw outscored the Wolves 16-5 in the period, giving Clarkston at 10-point deficit to start the fourth quarter, 31-21.
‘We turned it over six times and missed three or four layups and shots,? Fife said.
But the Wolves (21-4) made the game close down the stretch, trailing 34-30 with two minutes remaining.
‘They were fighting,? Fife said of the Wolves. ‘It was typical of a close game.?
Like many close games, the contest turned into a foul-and-free-throw shooting affair, which came on the wrong night for the Wolves who shot 4/11 from the stripe.
‘Our inability to take care of the ball and make free-throws was our downfall,? Fife said.
Clarkston held Saginaw’s big men Draymond Green and Josh Southern, both division I NCAA recruits, to 12 points combined.
‘It was a low-scoring game where we needed it to be, but we didn’t get it done,? Fife said.
‘Defensively, we were as good as we could be. If we could have taken care of the ball, things would have been different.?
Clarkston committed 22 turnovers on the night.
‘At this time of the season, you can’t have that,? Fife said.
The Trojans? guard duo of Daniel West and Mike Green slowed the Wolves. West scored 13 points and Mike Green had 14.
Oliver Kupe led Clarkston with 14 points and Dan Owens had six.