BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Cagers finished the winter season in the Sweet Sixteen after a 46-48 loss to Hartland in the MHSAA Division 1 Girls Basketball Region 2 last Thursday.
“It’s a tough loss but given the chance to play against the number one team in the division and have a shot to win the game at the end, that’s all you can ask for,” said Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball Head Coach Aaron Goodnough. “It was tough for the girls and it was tough to take. To be honest, I didn’t have anything to be upset about. We played so well. We were right there at the end. It’s not something I am going to look back and say we could have done this or could have done this. We played really well and I was proud of their effort.”
He added the game started out slow for the Wolves and they called a time out a few times.
“If anything it was to get their attention,” he said. “Once we got playing our style of ball and doing what we wanted to do, we finished the half exactly the way we wanted to.”
The Eagles finished the first quarter with a 13-3 lead and by the end of the first half, the Wolves had tied the game with a 3-pointer from junior Keira Tolmie, putting the score at 20 points each.
“When we came out in the second half and scored the first five points I knew we were going to be there for the rest of the game. I was really happy,” said Goodnough.
Hartland led going into the final minute by five points but Clarkston bounced back. Senior Maddy Skorupski scored with nine seconds left to cut the Eagles lead down to two points.
“We knew coming into Hartland they were going to faceguard her and just chase her around the court and that’s exactly what they did,” Goodnough said. “Frankly that was the first couple of time outs we called. We were still trying to get the ball to Maddy the way we normally do. I said guys we practiced this for two straight days. It’s not that we can’t give the ball to her to give her opportunities. It’s we can’t force it to her when we are getting open opportunities. I need you to take advantage of your opportunity to score. She still scored 22 and we had contributions from a lot of different girls in the game. she was just awesome as normal. She just steps up at the times you really need her. The moment does not scare her.”

The Wolves defeated Lake Orion in the regional semifinal on March 8, 61-47, to become the eighth team in last 25 years to make the regional final.
Skorupski led with 42 points.
“She was amazing,” said Goodnough. “She was just amazing. She scored 42 points and made one 3-pointer – that’s just insane. It just tells you she was in attack mode the entire game. I told the girls at half time, we just got Lake Orion’s best half of the entire year – we are up by two. We knew we were going to shake them a little bit.”
Tolmie had nine points and senior Izzy Hadley had five points.
The team finished the season 17-7 overall and 10-2 in the OAA Red for second place.
Goodnough added he was thrilled with how the team did for the season.
“We put a very tough schedule in front of the girls,” he added. “I couldn’t have asked for more dedication of the season, in the off season, in the weight room, the Sunday practices we had to throw in because we had cancellations. They were willing to jump in and do whatever I asked them to do and more.
“We put in defense early in the year that they had never played and never been showed,” he continued. “It showed early. By the end of the year, especially the Hartland game it, showed that’s what we were working towards the entire year and that was the best defense we played the entire season and it showed. We got to see them really develop throughout the year.”
Goodnough added he is excited for the future. They have key players coming up and they will be a young team with JV players coming up after going 19-0 this season.
The Wolves brought five JV players up to the varsity level for the playoffs.
“One girl who dominated during JV, Elia Morgner, she contributed during all of our games,” Goodnough said. “She is going to be a key piece for us next year because she goes and gets rebounds. She is super aggressive. Her blood pressure did not go up. You just don’t see her go into panic mode. When we get her into a whole regular season and a summer with us, I think she could have a big year at the varsity level right away next year.”
He added facing Hartland in the regional final will help the returners especially the ones brought up from JV.
“We made the Sweet Sixteen and now we are talking next year and beyond we want to get to Lansing and whatever it takes to get to Lansing. I think that’s going to help us when we start to set goals for next year,” he said. “This is our goal – they have seen it, they have experienced it. I had three freshmen I called up. They watched it. They know what to expect. They got to see it in person.”
The Wolves graduate four seniors – Hadley, Skorupski, Kaitlyn Thierry and Sophia Walker.
Goodnough added he has known all four for awhile either through travel ball and then into high school or they played for him like Thierry and Walker for the four years he has been coaching at Clarkston.
“Sophia and Kaitlyn have always been there,” he added. “Sophia has been in and out of the line up. Kaitlyn came back because she knew I would be coaching varsity and she wanted to be there that fourth year.”
Skorupski and Hadley both joined the varsity team their freshman year.
“Huge contributions on all levels,” Goodnough said. “Maddy just blossomed from her freshman year to her senior year. We knew she was always capable. She turned into the player we knew she could be. Izzy does everything. She always has an effect on the game because she is always at the right place at the right time and does a little bit of everything. The last two and a half months we said there is the opponent’s best player go guard her and she’s either her height or eight inches taller, it doesn’t matter. She never shirked from it because she is a complete bulldog.
“They will be missed, for sure.”

  Girls Basketball