By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com

ROYAL OAK — The Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball team defeated Royal Oak on the road last Friday, 65-28.
“Royal Oak was us coming together,” said Aaron Goodnough, head coach. “We had some ups and downs in terms of just trying to come together more than anything else. Us coming together as a team, trying not to play as a bunch as individuals. It really felt like it the other night. We started out a little slow. We instituted some new things, as I have told them, some rules. I try to let them play basketball as much as I can but we have had to institute some rules. It seemed to really kick in.”
He added it was a fun game.
“I love playing against Royal Oak because (Brian) Sopata is a great coach and his kids play so stinking hard,” he said. “I was glad we came out and matched that intensity. Our first quarter was a little slow. The second quarter we just took off and went after it.”
Elliana Robak led with 24 points. Bella Flavin had 12 points and Brooklyn Covert had nine points.
The Wolves prepare for a busy week with three games scheduled. They opened the week with Ferndale and play Lake Orion and Avondale.
Goodnough added it is also exam week for the student-athletes.
“It’s a series of challenging the girls to manage time properly, eat right, get your rest and I still want you to do good in your classes and good in your finals. We are adjusting practice times and what we do in practice,” he said, adding they will focus on narrowing down two key things to address against each opponent.
The Wolves (5-5) opened the week against Ferndale on Tuesday. They host Lake Orion on Thursday with JV playing at 5:30 p.m. and varsity following.
The varsity team plays Avondale in the MLK Classic at West Bloomfield on Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
“I am always excited to go to the MLK tournament,” Goodnough said. “I like where we are at. We are heading into the heart of our league schedule. We have a good outlook at where we can be at the end of the year.”

  Clarkston Athletics, Girls Basketball