On paper, Friday’s game pitting Clarkston on the road against North Farmington should have been a bit closer than the 52-35 Wolves? victory would indicate.
The Raiders entered with a similar record as Clarkston’s, but winless in the league. The Wolves (8-2, 2-1 OAA) on the other hand, split Oakland Activities Association games 1-1, beating a difficult Pontiac Central team and falling to league leader Pontiac Northern in a close game one week earlier.
The Raiders (6-3, 0-3 OAA) would not get closer than the one-point deficit they faced at the end of the first quarter, 10-9, despite tight trapping and double-teaming efforts in the second half.
‘They do a great job of what they do defensively. You can’t run your offense and they make you make plays,? Clarkston coach Dan Fife said.
‘They double-team all your players and make them all make decisions and we don’t see that a lot, so it’s something different. I was extremely proud of the way our kids handled the pressure.?
The years of experience on the varsity squad in Clarkston’s starting lineup was a factor in the Wolves? beating the pressure, Fife added.
Trailing 22-14 at the half, the Raiders seemed poised for a run at the Wolves when Stephen Doty hit a three-point basket to open up the third quarter. From there, the Wolves went on a 7-0 run.
The Raiders did outscore Clarkston 12-11 for the quarter, cutting the gap by one point, 33-26.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Wolves after they opened with a 9-0 run. The Wolves outscored North Farmington 19-9 in the fourth, despite a 5-0 Raiders? run born from consistent pressure.
Julius Porter quelled the Raiders? push with a pull-up jumper from the foul line with 2:01 remaining. Porter led Clarkston with 10 points in the quarter and finished tied for the game-high 14 points after sitting and going scoreless in the first half.
‘I got in foul trouble in the first half, but I came back and got my head in the game,? Porter said.
Fife recognized Porter’s effort in post-game talk.
‘For someone to keep their mind in the game when they sit out the whole first half is really hard to do. I complimented him after the game, because that’s not easy to do for anybody.?
The game started as the Dan Owens and Oliver Kupe show. The duo led the Wolves through the first half, combining for 20 points in the half.
Owens finished with 13 points, and Kupe with 13 points and four rebounds.
Bren Bergquist had another solid game, scoring 11 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Kevin Badgley contributed five rebounds and two steals for the Wolves.
Jeff Young scored 14 points and Jon Bills added 9 points for North Farmington.
Fife was happy with the way Clarkston was able to limit Bills? touches.
‘He’s a post-up player and he didn’t get a lot of opportunities. With Berq (Bren Bergquist) and Badgley guarding him, Badgley was able to front him and they couldn’t throw it into him because Badgley was there or Bren was right next to him,? Fife said.
North Farmington coach Tom Negoshian said the team struggled with Bills? limited scoring, but the Raiders? woes continued because of poor shooting outside the paint.
‘When you take away our post (presence) like they did and we don’t shoot the ball well from the perimeter like we did tonight, then we’re in trouble,? he said.
‘That’s a credit to Clarkston for knowing what to do,? he added.
Negoshian said leaving Bills in the game during the second half, despite foul trouble, was necessary.
‘We felt if we didn’t play him with four (fouls), then we didn’t have much of a chance anyway because of depth,? Negoshian said.
‘Our depth is not really strong with upper-classmen,? he said.
‘When you’re down by seven or eight points and trying to get on a run and you don’t have a lot of depth, you hope you can ride that out.?