On a frigid January night, who could blame you if you stayed home, slid another log on the fire, and sipped something hot all evening? But if you made it to the game between Clarkston and the Pontiac Central Chiefs, you enjoyed a dandy game, with the Wolves winning it going away, 78 to 55.
The Chiefs appeared to be faster, stronger and bigger than Clarkston; yet, with the game on the line, the Wolves outshot, out-hustled, and outplayed the tough Chief quintet.
The starting five for Clarkston set the example. In the third quarter, for instance, an errant pass went bouncing out of bounds and up toward the second row. It appeared to be irretrievable, but Ryan Kaltz went airborne, leaped over the line of chairs, and tried to scoop the ball back onto the court. The ball stayed out of bounds, but Ryan had made his point. The Wolves were out to play, to do everything necessary to win. And win they did.
Later, junior guard Brad Goodman drove the baseline and, when the Chiefs hemmed him in, did a 360-degree pirouette to free himself for an easy basket. The play brought the crowd to its feet.
Then, Kaltz grabbed a rebound at the Pontiac end, traversed both teams at center court, and scored on a coast-to-coast trip. Again, the crowd was on its feet.
At practice earlier in the day, Coach Dan Fife was cautious in avoiding a prediction of victory. But he was bullish on his team and on the rivalry, which has spawned some great matches in the past. He wasn’t sure his team would respond when the going got tough. You bet they would, and they did.
The Wolves started slowly against a team that featured Javon White, a left-handed guard who made a habit of penetrating the Clarkston defense for easy layups — until he was charged with his third foul.
Nevertheless, he scored 21 points, most of them by driving up the middle and laying the ball into the twine. Chris Johnston led the Clarkston attack with 20 points and nine rebounds in heavy traffic. Goodman had 16 and Kaltz 13 for the most balanced scoring of the season.
The Wolves outscored the Chiefs at the free throw line, 24 out of 30, compared to Pontiac’s 9 of 15.
‘We aren’t big, but we’re beginning to play as a team and make up for our shortcomings,? Fife said on Friday. Offensively, his club is tops in the Detroit metro area with an average of 75 points per game.
‘I’d rather be number one on defense (they rank 27th), but I’m happy to take the win. The role players like Chris Brookes, John Kast, Chris Miller, Kyle Rademacher, and Scott Lyons may not be starting, but they are playing more and we are looking like a team of 15, not just the starting five.?
When the reserves went into the game in the fourth quarter, Pontiac began to play a playground-style of basketball, losing all semblance of organization in their defense and offense. The Wolves outscored them in the period by 25 to 6.