When Lathrup won the opening tip of the Wolves’Chargers rematch on Feb. 4, there was a definite ‘And away we go? feeling in the CHS gym.
The Chargers broke the time line and cautiously poked at the Clarkston defense: passes to the wings probed for weakness, a hard dribble move scanned for a misstep and then inexplicably a pass back to half court would follow. The same exploratory process repeated over and over as three minutes ticked off the clock.
Somewhere in the midst of the elongated possession, the Wolves, their coaching staff and those in attendance realized Lathrup was not being cautious, they were stalling.
While the Wolves did triumph 42-25 in the end, the journey was more interesting than the final score would suggest.
‘I knew coming in we could not beat (Clarkston) with the same thing twice. Basically it was the element of surprise. The first time we played them we beat them (43-41) with a 2-3 zone and (Fife’s) too smart, so I know he worked on the 2-3 zone yesterday like crazy,? said Lathrup Coach Mike Avery. ‘I know he did not come with a stall defense yesterday and prepare for that. Basically, we wanted to shorten the game up.?
The stall defense works best when the team on defense plays into the hands of the offense and becomes overaggressive causing players to be out of position and to foul. Early on, Clarkston did commit three fouls but Clarkston Coach Dan Fife’s stern admonishments during a time-out got the Wolves under control.
?(I told them) they had to stay focused, don’t get relaxed, don’t get lazy, as difficult as that is with people walking around out there. Your drops have got to be right. You have to control penetration and talk so they don’t beat you for layups and put you to sleep with all that,? said Dan Fife. ‘Mike’s a good coach and the next time we play him I’ll know we are going to have a tough time because he does such a good job with his kids. I would have a hard time coaching that way, but you do what you think you have to do to give you kids the best chance to win.?
After finally coaxing a shot out of Lathrup, Clarkston was able to take lead on Bren Bergquist’s offensive rebound and subsequent put back.
Clarkston’s reward for taking a 2-0 lead some four minutes into the game was another lengthy Lathrup possession.
‘It was frustrating at first. We kind of gave them a free lane and they did not take it. So then we got anxious for a couple of minutes, but then we realized what they were doing, settled down a little bit and played our game,? said senior Scott Lyons, who Fife used early and often off the bench for pressure defense on the ball.
Senior Robbie Clark split from the line after another elongated Charger possession giving Clarkston a 3-0 lead, which was the score at the end of the first quarter.
Lathrup did not slow, or rather speed up, their attack in the second quarter, but the Wolves were able to earn some extra time with the rock by drawing some charges. Senior Brad Goodman scored six of his game high 18 points in the second on two three pointers to swell the Wolves lead to 11-2 at halftime. Lathrup shot 1-6 as a team in the first half.
‘Coming into the half I told our coaches ‘If I’m coaching that way I’m going to go at least until the five minute mark,?? said Fife.
Fife turned out to be correct as Lathrup again stalled throughout the third quarter and on into the fourth. With the score 20-8 at the end of the third and 27-14 with less than five minutes remaining in the game, the Chargers were forced to play a bit more conventionally offensively and started to send the Wolves to the free throw line in order to slow the game down.
Clarkston however was ready and able to win the game at the line, stroking 18 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter with Clark (eight points) and Goodman (10 points) doing most of the damage in the final frame.
‘The difference in the second half was the fouls getting us to the free throw line,? said Fife.
Having exacted their revenge on Lathrup, the Wolves are now 13-1 (6-1) with two league games on the road this week.
‘Next week is going to be very interesting for us. I like the challenge of going to other people’s gym and having to play. This is the last run for everybody and everybody is trying to catch up,? said Fife.
Clarkston’s game at Pontiac Northern finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News. The Wolves rocked Northern 59-48 on Jan. 7.
Clarkston will play at Pontiac Central in a rare Thursday night game on Feb. 22. The Wolves beat Central 70-59 on Jan. 14.