CLARKSTON — The Clarkston Wolves held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Ferndale Eagles to claim a 69-62 win in Oakland Activities Association Red Division play Thursday night.
Clarkston built a 10-point lead at halftime thanks to some hot 3-point shooting by Ace Walters, Hayden Barrow, and Cole Charter. The trio combined for six 3-pointers in the first half, propelling the Wolves to a 33-23 halftime lead.
“That first half, we’ve got to do better. We’ve to play with a sense of urgency,” Eagles head coach Juan Rickman said.
The Wolves then opened the second half with eight quick points to extend their lead to 18 points, 41-23, as Walters and Charter hit back-to-back triples to open the half. Ferndale called timeout and went on a 10-2 run of its own to get the lead back down to 10, but that was as close as the visitors could get until late in the fourth quarter.
Ferndale’s Eden Vinyard (R) is fouled by Clarkston’s Cole Charter (L) during the game played on Thursday in Clarkston. Vinyard had a game-high 26 points in the 69-62 defeat to the Wolves. (KEN SWART – For MediaNews Group)
The Eagles finally got the deficit under double digits when junior Eden Vinyard made a free throw with 3:34 to play. Ferndale made a strong final push, even cutting Clarkston’s lead to just five points with 1:50 to play. However, the Wolves were able to fight off the Ferndale press, bleed the clock in the halfcourt, and seal the game by making free throws to close out the game.
“They (Ferndale) are well-coached. They’re super athletic, and Vinyard is a heck of a player,” Clarkston head coach Tim Wasilk said. “They’re a good team, and it’s a good league win.”
Overall, Vinyard had a huge night, leading everyone in both scoring and rebounding. The state’s top-ranked recruit in his class finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, but no one else got into double figures offensively for the Eagles, though Drakkar Washington’s eight points and nine rebounds left him just short of his own double-double.
Photo gallery of Clarkston vs. Ferndale in an OAA Red boys hoops contest
Clarkston, on the other hand, was able to spread the scoring around a bit more. Walters led the Wolves with 22 points, Charter finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Barrow chipped in 14 points. Max Harmon added eight points and eight rebounds.
“I was really happy with the way we shot the ball tonight and distributed the ball against their pressure,” Wasilk said.
With the win, Clarkston improves to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the OAA Red, one game behind Avondale, who have yet to lose a league contest. The Wolves host Sterling Heights Stevenson next Tuesday before traveling to Groves for their next league contest to close the week out.
The Yellow Jackets got the better of Clarkston in Auburn Hills on Jan. 13, 43-38, but the Wolves will get another crack at Avondale on Feb. 13.
“We’ve got to go through everybody again,” Wasilk said. “You know you’re getting teams that are well-coached and that are going to scout you well (in OAA Red). So you just take it a game at a time, play with a lot of toughness, hope we come out on top. Then, hopefully, at the end of the league season we are playing for a title.”
Ferndale slips to 5-9 overall and 2-4 in the OAA Red. The Eagles will try to snap a four-game losing streak on Tuesday when they host Groves in their next league game.
“We’ve just got to get better,” Rickman said. “The positives are stuff that we know. We’ve just got to keep going. Obviously, guys never quit, but we’ve got to have better starts.”