BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
As the clock on the scoreboard counted down in the Clarkston Girls JV Basketball’s last game of the season on Feb. 22, they knew they achieved their goal of going undefeated.
“They had great team chemistry,” said Kirstie Arendsen, head coach.
The season began with the girls making individual goals during the first practice and also making team goals which included going undefeated.

“It was awesome at the end of the year to see them achieve their goal,” Arendsen said. “It took a lot of individual growth, the growth of the team, and everyone buying into the team goals. It was really cool.”
A few of the biggest victories included two wins over Stoney Creek, which the juniors had lost to twice during the previous season. They also beat crosstown rivals Lake Orion twice.
“Some of the girls on my Clarkston team had played AAU with some of the girls from Lake Orion so it was a rivalry game. It was awesome to beat them twice as well,” she added.
The Clarkston Girls JV Basketball team is freshmen Piper Bosart, Lena Eblenkamp, Morgan Hunter, Olivia Toderan; sophomores Sarah Bailey, Riley Schneider, Jen Starnes, Sierra Waitkus; juniors Chelsea Barnes, Hailey Bogar and Olivia McKinney. They were led by Arendsen with Sharise Calhoun and Amanda Gorski, assistant coaches. Team manager is Megan Rusnak.
“We had strong leadership from the captains,” Arendsen said. “My assistant coaches were amazing. The underclassmen, specifically the freshmen, really stepped up. They have great fundamentals of the game and it really helped add to the team chemistry. The freshmen played like upperclassmen. It helped us up a lot. Three of the freshmen got pulled up to the varsity squad at the end of the year. It was awesome to see all their hard work to pay off and have an opportunity to learn from the varsity coach and players.”

  AOW, Athletes of the Week, Clarkston Girls JV Basketball