BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball players were victorious in their OAA Red battle at North Farmington with a 42-32 win, Jan. 9.
“We really turned the corner when it comes to being confident and calm on offense,” said Christine Rogers, head coach. “We are running our offense, we are running plays and everyone is very comfortable with what we are trying to do.”
She added defense is still a major factor in everything they do.
“We still live and die by our defensive intensity so we need to make sure we are working as hard as we can and as much of a team as we can on defense,” Rogers said. “It will really drive what we do on the offensive end. When we’re excited – we’re loose, we’re playing together, we are a great team. When we get tight and start fearing, making mistakes things don’t go as smoothly.”
Clarkston opened the game scoring eight points before the Raiders scored five points on them. The Wolves closed the gap by scoring eight more points to end the first stanza.
Before the first half closed, North Farmington outscored Clarkston though the Wolves held onto the lead going into halftime 23-19.
They kept holding onto the lead going into the fourth, this time by 13 points before the Raiders went on a 10-2 scoring run.
“We had a big lead,” Rogers said. “They cut it with some three point shots and some free points shots. We failed to score on a couple of times down the floor. They were shots we typically hit. Even the score dwindled, we still felt like we were in control of the game the whole time.”
She added it helps the players to feel like they still have control no matter what happens during the game.
“It shows the maturity we have,” Rogers said. “This year’s schedule has been tougher so we have the experience of playing in a tight game. Now we have the practice of keeping our composure so we can do what we need to when it’s crunch time.”
Senior Maddie Beck led with 17 points with nine rebounds and three steals. Senior Kayla Luchenbach scored 11 points and had 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
“Maddie is playing very well,” Rogers said. “Kayla is very durable on both ends of the floor. Molly (Nicholson) is having the best season of her career. We have freshmen stepping up on defense. We’ve got ball handling skills coming along and we’ve got shooting coming along. I am very pleased with where we are at the middle of the season.”
Clarkston is looking to reschedule last Friday’s game against Lake Orion, which was cancelled due to weather and will play them on Jan. 30 at home.
The Wolves (8-2, 3-0 OAA Red) host Bloomfield Hills on Thursday. They head to Rochester Adams on Tuesday.
“If we play well, if we play smart, if we play under control and if we play with passion there are very few teams we can’t beat,” Rogers said. “The rest of the league we are looking to fine tune the things we are already doing so we can take that next step up.”
JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.

  Basketball, Clarkston Girls Varsity Basketball, Girls Basketball