Lessons learned from losses

BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Wolves are looking forward to this week after two losses and a snow day.
“We are ready to rebound from our losses and have a big win,” said Clarkston Girls Varsity Head Coach Christine Rogers.
The Wolves lost to Macomb Dakota on Feb. 6, 51-41.
“It was largely a game of runs,” said Rogers. “They hit several deep threes in the first quarter. It had us down a dozen or so points early.”
Clarkston cut into the lead by halftime and with less than two minutes left in the game had it tied up.
“In the last minute and a half, we had a couple of turnovers which led to fastbreak points for them we weren’t able to counter,” Rogers said. “We played great for 14 minutes in the second half, but the last 90 seconds hurt us.”
Senior Kayla Luchenbach led the team with 16 points and senior Maddie Beck had 13 points.
They lost to Southfield Arts & Technology on Feb. 1, 47-36. Beck led with 14 points and four steals and senior Molly Nicholson had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“We came out very well,” said Rogers. “The girls were ready to run with Southfield and we opened up a lead. Southfield slowed it down to a half-court game and we had to battle the rest of the way.  With Luchenbach out, we asked a couple of younger players to give us quality minutes and they did. But we missed the production Kayla has given us all season.”
She added the losses will help the teams as they prepare for the post-season, which begins on Feb. 28 as Clarkston hosts Brandon in the district semifinals.
“It will keep us focused on the things we need to fix- like turnovers and rebounding,” Rogers said. “We know what we need to do in close games, and we know what happens when we lose focus. No one on this team wants to lose again. They are competitors.”
The Wolves head to Lake Orion on Thursday and aim to win a close game against their crosstown rivals. They host North Farmington on Saturday at Clarkston Junior High School. JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.
They head to Bloomfield Hills on Tuesday. They are back home on Feb. 22 as they host Rochester Adams in their last game of the regular season. JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.

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