By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — West Bloomfield has dominated the OAA Red League for four seasons with 51 consecutive wins in the league and last Friday it ended.
The Clarkston Girls Basketball team ended the streak with 48-41 win during the first annual Fife for a Cure.
“It was great,” said Aaron Goodnough, head coach. “It’s something they’ve earned. It’s something we’ve been working toward. Frankly, it’s something they’ve been working toward not just this year. The girls were excited. They knew that I, as a varsity coach, had never beaten West Bloomfield and rightly so they’ve had some great teams. We wanted to be the team to break that. It was something we really prepared for, watched a lot of tape on and practiced for that team. It’s good it all came to fruition.”
Sophomore Brooklyn Covert opened the night with the first basket before Laker Londyn Hall tied it up and from there the teams stayed within a few points of each other. The first quarter ended with a 3-pointer from senior Elia Morgner to put the Wolves up 13-12.
The teams remained close in the second quarter too, finishing with West Bloomfield taking the lead on a 3-pointer from Lanie Williams.
The Wolves distanced themselves during the third quarter finishing with a 35-27 lead.

West Bloomfield opened the final quarter with four points with freshman Bella Flavin responding with a basket and two points on the free throw line.
Goodnough shared for the team the game was about patience.
“We talked about swinging the ball from side to side and making their defense move,” he said. “We had some issues of patience and actually doing that. So we’d have one pass possessions or no pass possessions, you just shoot. Once we slowed it down they started seeing it, too. They started to see where the opportunities were. Honestly, once we got up like eight points, we were playing to make them beat us so there’s nothing we needed to force. We still had opportunities either it’s lay ups, driving to the basket or making them commit fouls.”
Junior Elliana Robak led the team with 17 points. Covert scored 14 points and Morgner had eight points.
“The bench was great when they came they really helped us out a lot, but it was our top three,” Goodnough said, adding Robak and Morgner were under the weather. “Eli toughed it out. Brooklyn had 14 points, but more importantly she was the girl we went ‘that’s the best player we have to shut her down. You know her.’ They played travel ball together. We know where she wants to get shots. We know how she wants to get shots. We just can’t let it be and 90 percent of the time she was on her and just really shut her down.”
He added Morgner had a good night.
“She was not feeling great, but she was the one in the huddles who leading us,” Goodnough said. “She was great. She affects the game in so many different ways that it’s so much beyond the points.”
The Wolves defeated Oxford in an OAA Red League game on Jan. 28, 48-41. Robak led with 21 points. Covert and Morgner each scored eight points.
“That game for us was all emotion,” Goodnough said. “They should have fits with us because the way we play defense, and we can score the ball. They are fighting through their own issues, but they have some good basketball players. It was just emotional because every girl on our team knows every girl on their team. You get into that friendly fire and you never know what you’re going to get. We were just flat. We battled through. I wasn’t necessarily worried about losing the game at any point but I was really hoping we’d find our stride and it took us a long time to find it. It’s a good test and it prepares you for the next time you are in that situation.”
The Wolves (11-5, 5-0 OAA Red) played Orchard Lake St. Mary’s on Tuesday.
“St. Mary’s is another one where a bunch of travel girls know each other from most teams,” Goodnough said. “It should be a good match. It should be a fun one, too.”
The Wolves head to Lake Orion on Tuesday, Feb. 11 and host Stoney Creek at Clarkston Junior High School on Friday, Feb. 14. JV plays at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.

  Clarkston Athletics, Girls Basketball