Riding the momentum of an upset over No. 1 Auburn Hills Avondale two days earlier, the Clarkston Wolves girls basketball team suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of Pontiac Northern on Sept. 28 by a score of 49-33.
The Wolves, (6-1, 1-1) were stymied by a tight defense from the Huskies (5-2, 1-1), only scoring five points in the first quarter.
Prior to the game, Wolves Coach Tim Wasilk expected Northern to be a very athletic and competitive team.
‘We’re going to have our work cut out for us,? he said.
The Huskies jumped out ahead immediately as Lucetry Dalton’s lay-up within five seconds of the opening tip-off, put the Wolves behind.
Northern opened the game on a 10-2 run fueled by pushing the ball and poor shooting by Clarkston. The Wolves mustered five points in the first quarter.
Wolves Guard Chelsea Kouri missed her first four field goal attempts, but finished with a game high 15 points, all scored from behind the 3-point arc. Overall, the Wolves shot 18 percent from the floor in the loss.
Shannon Smith, one of three Huskies scoring in double digits, led the team with 13 points.
Throughout the game, the Wolves played their way back into the game after the contest seemed to be getting out of reach. They tied the score at 17 with 1:11 remaining in the second quarter.
The Huskies kept Clarkston at bay during the third quarter with a continuous lead between three and six points.
Wasilk said the loss was a combination of the Huskies pushing the ball on offense and tight defense and a faltering offense on the Wolves part.
‘We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well tonight, we had a lot of good looks tonight, but we didn’t knock down our shots,? Wasilk said.
‘They played very good defense’however we had good looks tonight and we missed a lot of shots tonight both inside and out. When we don’t hit our shots it’s tough to get going and 33 points is a credit to good defense and a credit to us not putting it in the hole,? Wasilk said.
Pontiac Northern Coach Leola Greer was ver pleased with her team after the victory.
‘They (the Huskies) did a great job. We spent a lot of time working on our defense and a lot more time on our offense and making sure the girls execute, because we’re having an issue with (that)’I’m really proud of them all around,? Greer said.
‘We knew coming into this game Clarkston was the team to beat and they’re going to be a team to beat on down the line.?
With the loss, the Wolves pass along the Lady Court Wanderer trophy to Northern, which they took from Avondale on Sept. 26. The trophy goes from team to team in a trunk and each team keeps the trophy until they lose a game. The packet inside the trunk said the traveling trophy originated in the Upper Peninsula.
The Wolves? next game versus the West Bloomfield Lakers finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News.
The following game is on the road for the Wolves against the Waterford Kettering Captains on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.