Clarkston’s basketball team had a tall task Monday, but they were up to the challenge.
The Wolves clamped down on Lapeer East’s Jake Long, who stands 6-7 and weighs 305 pounds, and held off the Eagles 59-48 in their district opener at Oxford.
Clarkston (13-8) advances to take on Waterford Kettering in the district semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the Waterford Mott-Brandon district semifinal for the district title at 7 p.m. Friday. Lapeer East finished their season at 15-6.
The Wolves started off hot, outscoring the Eagles 19-6 in the first quarter. Clarkston continued their torrid pace at the beginning of the second quarter, but Coach Dan Fife said the team started hurrying things a little too much toward the end of the half, although Clarkston still took a 34-16 lead at the half.
“We played very well for about 14 minutes, but toward the end of the second quarter, we started rushing things,” Fife said. “The game started to get a little physical.”
The teams battled to a virtual standstill in the third quarter, as the Eagles outscored the Wolves 11-10 in the period, with Clarkston maintaining a 44-27 lead at the end of the period.
The Eagles started nibbling at the Wolves’ lead in the fourth quarter, narrowing Clarkston’s lead to seven points with about two minutes to go. However, the Wolves made 15-of-20 free throws in the fourth period to seal the win.
According to Fife, the Wolves need to learn to keep their composure a little better when dealing with a physical team like the Eagles.
“We have to learn to separate ourselves from all those outside forces,” he said.
Junior Mark Thornberry buried three three-pointers on his way to leading the Wolves with 18 points. Sophomore Robbie Clark added 10 for Clarkston.
Long, who was double and triple-teamed all night, finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. “He’s very hard to guard,” Fife said of Long. “He’s a force in there and he’s so big.”
In their regular season finale Feb. 28, the Wolves earned a share of the Oakland Activities Association Division I league championship with a 63-41 win against visiting Ferndale.
With the win, Clarkston finished tied with Pontiac Northern and Southfield-Lathrup for the OAA I title with a league record of 9-3. Ferndale dropped to 6-12 overall and 2-10 in league competition.
The outcome of the game was never in doubt, as the Wolves raced to a 16-5 lead after the first quarter and took a 35-15 lead at halftime.
Junior forward Chris Johnston led Clarkston with 18 points, while Clark finished with 13 points (including three three-pointers) and senior guard Justin Whetstone added 11.