Being a second-half team is usually a good thing, but trailing 5-0 at halftime can put a team behind the eight ball. And so was the case with Grand Blanc, who fell to Clarkston 8-4 in the opening round of the boys lacrosse regional.
On their home turf, the Wolves (11-8) raged to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter, peppering Bobcats keeper Bobby Sullivan with 14 shots on net. Grand Blanc (7-10) failed to even get near Clarkston keeper Zack Lewy, getting zero shots on the netminder in the quarter.
Stephen Giannaris scored the first two goals of his hat-trick in the first. Andrew Schram, Chris and Eric Salo also had goals in the first for Clarkston.
‘The first quarter was huge because we started to get a little flat in the second, third and fourth. They came out well and they came out excited and the first quarter really paid a lot of dividends for us,? Clarkston coach Brian Kaminskas said.
With Grand Blanc pressuring in the fourth quarter behind three goals from Chris Slater, the Wolves needed to regroup.
‘We called a timeout and we reminded the guys that the hardest thing to do in sports is to beat a team that’s facing elimination. We made a lot of mistakes, but we were never worried,? Kaminskas said.
‘We knew as long as we did what we’ve been doing in practice, we’d be fine.
‘It got a little closer than we were counting on, but we were pretty happy with this.?
Kaminskas credited a dominant time of possession, lopsided in Clarkston’s favor, with keeping down a Bobcats team which typically plays better in the second half.
‘In the second half we didn’t get a whole lot of shots off, but we dominated time of possession. We had the ball on offense for about a seven-minute run in the third quarter. They did their job and they did it fine,? he said.
‘We’ve been working on it all year. Possessing the ball and only taking the shots we know we can bury. There’s no reason to rush a shot and turn the ball over.?
Unhappy with his team’s play in the penalty kill, Kaminskas said, the Wolves were taking a number of penalties.
‘We were getting called for tripping and slashing, which are generally hustle penalties. You’re going to find that against a team on the verge of being eliminated. They’re going to run a little faster and dig a little deeper and if you’re not ready for it, you’re going to get caught behind them,? he said.
Bobcats coach Chuck Ciaravino said his team’s poor ball handling led to reduced minutes on offense.
‘At the half, we only had four shots on net, we only had the ball probably three minutes of total offense and the guys couldn’t keep it on their sticks. It was disappointing because at this time of the season, we should be able to handle the ball,? he said.
‘We made some adjustments and switched some guys up that play better together and we said we’ve got to control the ball, slow it down and don’t make bad passes. We did a little better in the second half of that.?
Lagging behind is nothing new for Grand Blanc, who has played from behind much of the year, Ciaravino said.
‘In the first quarter or first half, we’ve always gotten behind and had to come back. This is nothing new, but we got too far behind and couldn’t catch up,? he said.
The Wolves are expected to play Wednesday at 8 p.m. against the winner of Walled Lake Northern and U of D Jesuit at WLN.