A furious fourth quarter comeback bid by the Clarkston varsity girls basketball team fell short against West Bloomfield on Oct. 28.
Lakers forward Randall Hurst’s putback as time expired gave West Bloomfield a 52-50 victory.
A steal and a layup by junior guard Tamra Green tied the game up in the fourth with 17 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, West Bloomfield took their shot and missed, but with the clock winding down, Hurst grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and put up a shot which teased on the rim before dropping through the hoop. Hurst, who dominated the paint on both ends of the floor, and teammate Nicole Clark both scored a game high 19 points.
‘We all wanted to win that game so bad,? said senior forward Jill Kouri. ‘We definitely thought we were going to come back and win (the game) ? they’re big girls so it is hard to box them out.?
Every time Hurst or Clark scored a big bucket for the Lakers, Kouri seemed to answer back using her quickness to escape West Bloomfield’s brawny post defenders. Kouri finished with a team high 12 points.
The Wolves hung with West Bloomfield for the majority of the first half, getting scoring help off the bench from Julia Connor, who scored five of her seven points in the second quarter. Connor had to leave the game briefly due to a bloody nose caused by rough jockeying for position in the paint.
‘We hung really well the whole game with them,? said junior guard Tamra Green. ‘We could have done some things better, but we stayed with them and we didn’t give up.?
The two teams entered the locker room with West Bloomfield clinging to a 22-21 lead and the Wolves brimming with confidence. One Wolf was heard to shout ‘this is our game? as she left the court.
‘Every time we come in here (Coach Ann Lowney) does such a good job with those kids. I knew they were going to be ready,? said West Bloomfield Coach Larry Moore.
Clarkston, despite their high spirits going into half time, came out flat on defense in the second half allowing West Bloomfield to outscore them 19-9.
‘We got down 12, but we just kept fighting, and that is what this team does, they just never quit,? said Lowney. ‘Unfortunately, we came up one defensive rebound short of overtime.?
Earlier in the year, when looking ahead to this game, Lowney felt the Wolves would have to play virtually mistake free basketball to beat West Bloomfield.
In the fourth quarter, sophomore guard Chelsea Kouri stepped up scoring all eight of her points in the game during Clarkston’s furious comeback effort. As a unit the Wolves harassed the West Bloomfield ball handlers into bad shots and turnovers, outscoring the Lakers 20-9 in the quarter.
Even though they did not come away with the win, the Wolves are pleased with their effort.
‘We competed and that is the big thing, (Hurst and Clark) are division I college basketball players,? said Lowney.
Next up for the Wolves is even an even stiffer test against number one ranked Southfield Lathrup on Nov. 4.