Clarkston turns the tables on Oak Park to nab 44-41 win

CLARKSTON » Two weeks ago, Clarkston suffered its largest loss of the season when it traveled to Oak Park and got stomped by 18 points.

But with a rematch against the Knights on tap Thursday, the Wolves proved the last meeting to be an aberration. Clarkston’s thoroughly effective defensive play was coupled with composure in the fourth quarter to permit a 44-41 victory this time against its pesky OAA Red Division foe.

Having trailed most of the game but still hanging tight on the scoreboard, Oak Park briefly grabbed a one-point lead at the

start of the fourth quarter. The next six points belonged to Clarkston, however, forcing the Knights to play catchup again and contend with the Wolves’ willingness to chew up precious time on the offensive end.

Clarkston junior forward Mike DePillo was busy in the late stages, cashing in his team’s final field goal of the night—a big one down low out of a timeout call—and then collecting two crucial defensive rebounds in the final minute.

All in all, Clarkston coach Tim Wasilk said he just appreciated how well his team performed defensively, which enabled it to cover up some of its faults.

“(The Knights) have very good guards, they’re well coached, they had a very good game plan. So I was happy with the way we competed,” Wasilk said. “We didn’t play our best. I felt like we had a lot of turnovers and we weren’t really clean on the offensive end, so credit to Oak Park, but we were really good defensively limiting their top guards from touches and scoring.”

Early on, Clarkston built up a 25-12 lead through a quarter and a half of action. Three straight Wolves turnovers helped set up a pair of Oak Park 3-pointers late in the half, however.

“I think we held them to 12 points over the first 14 minutes. Then they had two pretty tough threes at the end, momentum switched, and suddenly it was a five-point game,” Wasilk said.

Fresh from the locker room, the Knights’ surge continued a bit further as a 14-1 scoring run drew the game even at 26-26.

From there, the remainder of the game was mostly played with a one-possession or less margin on the scoreboard.

“I’m proud of the way our guys competed today. When momentum kind of swung, we swung it back,” Wasilk said. “I felt like we were in a good spot in the fourth quarter and our kids stepped up to make some plays. It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a good league win for us, especially knowing when we went to their place, they beat us up pretty good a few weeks ago.”

Junior Keegan Wasilk scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter for the Wolves, while DePillo matched him with 12 points of his own. Zach Austin and Nathan Steinman chipped in with seven and six points, respectively, for Clarkston (11-3, 5-3 OAA Red).

The Wolves have now picked up five consecutive victories and begun to make a habit of winning tight, low-scoring games in the 40s.

“Offensively, we would definitely like to score more points, but we really hang our hat defensively and that’s where we’re really solid right now,” Wasilk said. “We’re improving offensively at times. Sometimes we’re really good and other times we struggle a little bit … We’ll get better and we’ll iron that out.”

Oak Park (3-7, 2-6 OAA Red) was led by junior Ashton Henderson’s game-high 13 points. Senior Keon Henderson collected eight points and junior Bwana Miller added seven for the Knights.

Neither team will have to wait long for their next contest. Oak Park will be back on the court Friday when it hosts the Detroit Jalen Rose Leadership Academy. Clarkston returns to action Saturday when it welcomes Stoney Creek to its gym.

“It’s been tough physically, mentally and emotionally on the kids,” Wasilk said of the condensed schedule. “We’ve only had one day off since we started. We’ve either practiced or played nearly every day. It’s been a challenge to be able to have great practices, but then save their legs at the same time. But we’re playing and that’s what’s important for the kids.”