BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The game was close the first time Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball faced crosstown foes Lake Orion with one free throw point deciding the win.
Last week it was a different story as the Wolves closed the game with a 51-19 win.
“We played really well,” said Christine Rogers, head coach. “We watched some film from the last game and fixed things we could do better. Their offense is really big and solid inside – that’s a problem when a lot of our offense runs through the middle. They watched some film and saw the openings. We moved the ball in the middle high/low and it worked fantastically.”
The Wolves finished the first quarter with a 8-2 lead with three baskets from Kayla Luchenbach and one from Kaelyn Kaul.
They opened the next stanza with an 11-point run starting with two points from Molly Nicholson. Lake Orion fought back scoring off two field goals, but it wasn’t enough as Clarkston closed the half with a basket from Maddie Beck to put the score 25-8.

“Kayla, Maddie and Molly were taking the ball to the hoop which changes the game,” Rogers said. “Instead of just trying to body up somebody who is as big as you or maybe bigger than you are, they were able to take everyone off their dribble. We got a lot of production from our young point guard Kaelyn and had great defense. I am really proud of how they played today.”
The Wolves opened the second half with a basket from Nicholson before Lake Orion scored two points on the free throw line.
Clarkston continued to build onto their lead with nine more points including a 3-pointer from Kaul. The Dragons scored three points to put the score at 38-13 with less than two minutes in the third quarter.
Heaton scored two points after a steal and in the last 40 seconds of the stanza, Beck sank a field goal, putting the score 43-13.
Prior to the win over Orion, the girls had lost two consecutive games and had a 8-day break.
Rogers said it felt good to come back with a win over the Dragons.
“It was a really good win to get us motivated for Saturday’s game over North Farmington, who also has a big player on the inside,” she added. “I think we had to reassess some things after our lossess. We came out stronger.”
Luchenbach led the team as she scored 16 points and had six rebounds and five assists. Nicholson scored 11 points and had six rebounds. Beck had nine points and four assists while Kaul had eight points and six rebounds.
The Wolves played North Farmington on Saturday and posted a big 53-17 win. Taylor Heaton led with 15 points. Beck had 11 points and three steals. Nicholson had nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Luchenbach had eight rebounds, six assists and two blocks. Linton had 11 rebounds and Sam Aris had eight points.
They head to Bloomfield Hills on Wednesday and host Rochester Adams on Thursday for their game of the regular season. JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.

  Basketball, Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball, Girls Basketball