Lake Orion vs. Clarkston Recap
12 miles separate Clarkston High and Lake Orion high. Even during the JV game, it was evident that there was bad blood between the two schools. Despite Clarkston and Lake Orion being crosstown rivals, past contests have been far from…
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Continue Reading12 miles separate Clarkston High and Lake Orion high. Even during the JV game, it was evident that there was bad blood between the two schools. Despite Clarkston and Lake Orion being crosstown rivals, past contests have been far from competitive. Clarkston came in to this matchup winning 15 straight against Lake Orion. This game is highlighted with the matchup of Clarkston’s 7’0 junior big, Matt Nicholson and Lake Orion’s 6’9 senior big and Wayne State commit, Nate Talbot. Nicholson is surrounded with a back court of freshman guards with Fletcher Loyer and Keegan Wasilk. Clarkston came in to this matchup with a record of 3-2 and Lake Orion came in with an undefeated record of 5-0 and a packed student section behind them.
The first quarter was filled with chippy and aggressive play from both squads but not a lot of buckets. Jack Cummins of Lake Orion contributed an impressive pull up jumper which was later answered with a triple from Wasilk. Loyer contributed as well early on with a trio of steals in the first quarter. At the conclusion of the quarter, Clarkston held a 10-5 edge on Lake Orion.
As the half progressed, Clarkston started to get in to the flow of their offense. In transition, Loyer weaved through the defense and hit Wasilk with a layup. The pass was so pretty even the Lake Orion student section was in awe. Freshman, Mike DePillo also came in contributing down low with a block on Talbot. DePillo joined Wasilk and Loyer playing with The Family in the summer. The next possession down Talbot caught the ball on the right block and finished with contact. It wasn’t that easy for Lake Orion throughout the next couple possessions as the block party continued with Wasilk joining DePillo. Senior guard, Desmond Millis-Bradley came off the bench for Clarkston and knocked down a pair of triples. The half was concluded with a contested triple from Cummins bring the Dragons deficit to single digits. At half, Clarkston led 22-15.
The second half began with a double clutch lay from Loyer, a steal on the other end from Loyer, then two made technical foul free throws from Loyer. He was everywhere. The run was continued with two free throws from Nicholson and a pretty floater from Wasilk. The 8-0 run caused Lake Orion to take a timeout. A trey from Hunter Sites of Lake Orion brought the deficit to 12 but it was answered by Millis-Bradley on the next possession down.
Clarkston’s Fletcher Loyer(5) and Jake Jensen(14) via Oakland Free PressThe fourth quarter was no different than the rest of the game, Clarkston pulled away with an easy win. What was thought to be a battle between bigs turned out to be a show from the freshman studs. Clarkston won the contest 58-37. Clarkston was led by Loyer who scored 21 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists. Loyer’s backcourt teammate, Wasilk chipped in with 13 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. Millis-Bradley added 11 points and Nicholson was big down low with 11 rebounds and 5 blocks.
This young Clarkston team is legit. Don’t be surprised if they make a splash in March. Quarterback and starting guard for Clarkston, Jake Jensen is a leader and a winner and he showed those attributes today. He is a player that doesn’t need to put the ball in the basket to contribute. It is extremely early to be making speculations about next year but this star studded team is only graduating one senior. It appears that every year Clarkston fields a squad that is fun to watch.