BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Clarkston High School Girls Varsity Basketball team finished its season with a 52-37 loss to Waterford Kettering in the MHSAA Class A Girls Basketball District Semifinals, March 6.
“Our shots just weren’t falling,” said CHS Head Coach John Weyer. “We are a good shooting team. We normally shoot a lot better than that. Sometimes the shots just don’t fall when you are a good shooting team. It happens. When they don’t fall, it just hurts the team.”
Waterford Kettering opened the game with two points off free throws and another two from a basket.
Sophomore Olivia Toderan and junior Lexi Linton evened the score off their own baskets before the Captains pulled back into the lead.

With two minutes remaining in the period, Toderan, Linton and junior Taylor Heaton added six points to aid the Wolves as they closed in on the score again. A 3-pointer from freshman Madison Skorupski ended the quarter with Clarkston in the lead, 13-12.
The score remained close in the second quarter until the Waterford Kettering built a lead with three minutes remaining on an 8-1 run, ending with a 24-17 lead.
The Wolves pushed back in the final quarter. Linton opened with a basket and the players shot from the outside with field goals from Toderan, Heaton, Linton, and sophomore Kaelyn Kaul.
“We needed more shots in the end to get more into the game,” Weyer added. “Some of them fell, and we felt some energy there.”
Linton led with 13 points and had two field goals during the night. Toderan and Heaton both scored eight points. Izzy Dugal led Waterford Kettering with 12 points.
The Wolves finished with a 11-10 record for the season.
“We are so young,” said Weyer. “We overcame so much adversity as a team to overcome the start of the season with the schedule we had. They stayed positive through it all. We never lost the team, we never lost the bench. Everyone understood their role and came through. I am very proud of them, and they should be proud of themselves.”
All players on the roster are coming back for next season which includes freshmen Skorupski, Izzy Hadley; sophomores Kaul, Sam Aris, Piper Bosart, Morgan Hunter; and juniors Heaton, Linton, Riley Schneider, Jen Starnes and Sierra Waitkus.
Weyer added there is a lot of hope with everyone returning.
“I talked to the girls about winning with grace, losing with grace, and holding their heads up,” he said. “This should fuel them to work really hard during the summer. I told them, ‘put the loss in your heart so it can fuel you. Put it in your head so you don’t forget.”

  Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball, district playoffs