As the boys basketball season winds down, Clarkston is still on top of the conference with only two weeks of the regular season remaining.
The Wolves (13-2) added another league win, a 77-48 handling of North Farmington, on Thursday before a home crowd.
The Raiders (9-6) made runs but never made a close game of things after the Wolves streaked to an early 20-6 lead.
‘They (Clarkston) played really well,? Raiders coach Tom Negoshian said.
‘We got out-everything’ed. Out-scored, out-played and out-hustled.?
Clarkston is 6-1 in the Oakland Activities Association, while North Farmington falls to 1-6 with the loss.
Dan Owens led all scorers with 28 points. Bren Bergquist had eight points, five rebounds and five assists. Julius Porter scored 16 points, and both Oliver Kupe and Ty Taylor had seven points for Clarkston.
Taylor Gray had 16 points, and Jon Bills had 8 to lead the Raiders.
North Farmington outscored the Wolves 16-14 in the second quarter, slashing their deficit to eight points at halftime. Clarkston held the Raiders to single-digit scoring in the third quarter, 19-7.
The Raiders looked to their backcourt pressure most of the night for a bailout, but got an IOU instead.
‘It’s good for us to play against that press,? Wolves coach Dan Fife said.
‘They trap you all the time, so you can never run plays and they make you just play basketball.
‘You don’t have time to relax, so it’s important that you move the ball and make good decisions.?
Although the Wolves held a large lead throughout much of the game, Fife stayed tough on the team to ensure a strong finish.
‘Those games turn around awful quickly,? Fife said.
‘If you let up, you’re going to be in trouble and they will catch you, because they keep trapping and forcing you to make decisions. If you let up mentally, which we did at times, they can get themselves right back into the game.?
With time winding down, Fife used two timeouts to warn the team to keep their guard up.
‘Both those timeouts were because we were getting crazy. We were getting lax mentally and in our effort,? he said.
‘This game is so mental and staying focused.?
Clarkston has rescheduled its game with Macomb Dakota for Feb. 28 at Clarkston. The first game was cancelled due to inclement weather on Feb. 13. The Wolves travel to Southfield Lathrup on Friday and their game with the Chargers starts at 7 p.m.