BY HARRY KNITTER
Clarkston News Staff Writer
Christmas is over, but the Clarkston Wolves tried their best to give away a gift-wrapped basketball game to Pontiac Northern Friday night at the Pontiac gym. Fortunately, the clock mercifully ran out and their largesse was stopped dead in its tracks. Clarkston edged the Huskies, 68 to 65.
Leading by as many as 14 points in the second half, it seemed to be a sure win for the Wolves. But Coach Dan Fife of Clarkston decided, with five minutes remaining, to go into a stall and live on free throws. Northern countered with a pressing defense that created multiple turnovers.
While the Wolves sank a high percentage of free throws, the Huskies began to hit on three-pointers and the deficit in the score began to close.
Northern got the lead down to three with 25.6 seconds left on the clock. On another turnover, Northern got a short jumper that made it a one-point game. Then Brad Goodman hit two free throws to make it a three-point game again with 16 seconds to play.
Northern had two additional chances to score, but their three-point attempts went astray. For the game, the most exciting of this season, Chris Johnston scored from every direction for 27. Brad Goodman and Robbie Clark had 16 each for the Wolves, their best balanced scoring of the year.
The two teams are evenly matched and have traditionally produce some of the best basketball of any year. It seemed too easy for the Wolves to pile up a 14 point lead at one stage of the second half, and suspected that something dramatic would happen.
A few left for home with the game seemingly in hand.
But Northern, now 4-3 overall, never gave up and their defense produced lots of turnovers.
Turnovers create scorimg opportunities, so anyone who went to the refreshment stands for a hot dog, returned to a surprise in the score within the last five minutes of the game. Clarkston, who had played their best basketball up to that point, lost their momentum and almost lost the game.
The Wolves are now 6 and 2 for the season overall, and 2-0 in the conference (OAA I). The Huskies were considerably taller than the Clarkston players, but they didn’t shut down Johnston, who was all over the court. But even a height advantage didn’t keep the Wolves from building a solid lead at the beginning of the second half.
Earlier in the week, St. Mary’s of Orchard Lake gave the Clarkston Wolves all they could handle as the Eaglets posted a solid victory over the Wolves,75 to 72. The closeness of the score was deceiving, since St. Mary? dominated the game, led by forward Brandon Cassise.
Clarkston took an early lead, but the Eaglets put on a spurt that gave them a lead they never relinquished. The extra beef their big men brought to the table paid off in rebounds and in hawking turnovers.
Chris Johnston led scorers with 27 and 10 rebounds, and Brad Goodman had a solid night with 20 points.
The loss, their second of the season, gave the Wolves a record of 5-2 while St. Mary’s improved to 3-4. The Eaglets suited up just nine players, with three of their boys on injured reserve.
The game was a learning experience for the Wolves, because it showed them that shooting makes a big difference in the game outcome. The Eaglets, particularly Cassise, were able to score from a variety of angles, while Clarkston struggled in their offensive end because of poor shooting.