BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Lady Cagers are off to a winning start after their 48-32 win at Oxford in their season opener last Friday.
“We played very well,” said Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball Head Coach Christine Rogers. “We have some things to work on, but our foundations are really good. I am excited to see when we put it all together.”
Oxford jumped to a 5-0 run to open the game before freshman Wolf Taylor Heaton was sent to the line and put Clarkston on the board with one point.
The Lady Wolves closed the gap by one point with a free throw shot from junior Maddie Beck, a basket from junior Molly Nicholson and two free throw shots from junior Kayla Luchenbach.
Senior Kristen Page grabbed the lead with moments to go on a successful 3-point attempt putting the score, 9-7.
Wildcat Lauren Methner tied the score with seconds to go to close the first quarter at nine points.
“My ball handlers are both new to varsity so it was their first varsity game so their nerves – you want to do your best, you want to lead your team – and there was a lot going on,” Rogers said about the first quarter. “Once they settled in they did a really good job. We also started to use our biggest strength which is our height – we got it in to Molly and Kayla.”

It was the Wolves turn at the beginning of the next stanza to open with a 5-0 run as they outscored their opponents 11-4 before going into half time.
“Our defense is pretty solid,” Rogers added. “We have worked on playing outside defense so our defense isn’t just man-to-man but more team defense. For the most part for the entire game our defense was really good.”
She gave defense a goal going into the second half – hold Oxford to two points and for Clarkston offense to score ten points in the first couple of minutes.
“They did that,” she said.
Beck led the team with 15 points and had five steals. Luchenbach had 14 points and nine rebounds and Nicholson posted ten points.
The Lady Wolves played Birmingham Groves on Monday and won, 91-74. which is the seventh highest point total in Michigan for girls basketball. Luchenbach led with 32 points and 14 rebounds and Beck scored 29 points
Going into the game Rogers said they had heard Groves was physical.
“It will be a test of our discipline to play our game,” she said.
The Lady Wolves host Our Lady of the Lakes on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“It will be a good test for us to continue playing our game and not focusing on who the team is or what we expect,” said Rogers. “It will also be a good test for us to run people in and see if we do the things that we practiced. That’s any game – just do what we practiced.”
The Lady Wolves are home next Wednesday as they host Birmingham Seaholm. JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.

  Basketball, clarkston, Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball