CLARKSTON – The host Wolves stormed back in the second half and slipped by their rivals from Lake Orion as Clarkston defeated the Dragons 59-56 in overtime to claim a D1 district title Friday night.

Trailing 32-19 at halftime, Clarkston came out in a press to start the second half, and it paid dividends. The increased defensive pressure from the Wolves started turning over Lake Orion, and Clarkston went on a 16-3 run that lasted most of the period, cutting the lead to just two points at 39-37. The Dragons managed to break the press at the end of the period for a couple of buckets, but the Wolves were back in the game after trailing most of the first half by double digits.

“The second half, I think the whole team really locked in, came together, and played as a team, for sure, and we got the job done,” senior captain Marley Mazur said. “We got in foul trouble in the first half. That kind of put us in a hole there, but I thought we dealt with it pretty well in the second half.”

Clarkston finally took the lead, 46-45, with 5:23 to play in the fourth quarter after the Wolves’ press created another turnover that led to a bucket by Elia Morgner. It was the first time the Wolves had led since 6-5 early in the first quarter.

Once Morgner gave Clarkston the lead, the game became a tight, see-saw affair the rest of the way, including when it reached overtime.

Once in the overtime, the Wolves were able to get to the free-throw line and make 6 of 8 free throws, including 4-for-4 by Elliana Robak, to seal the game as Lake Orion managed just three points in the overtime on a long jumper by Kara Veeder.

Lake Orion had taken an early lead, reeling off a 17-1 run to end the first quarter that helped build a 20-7 lead. It would eventually expand to 17 points at 29-12 midway through the second quarter. The combination of Isabel Wotlinski, Charlotte Peplowski, and Veeder carried the Dragons most of the night, but in the first half, the three could not seem to miss. Wotlinski finished with a game-high 22 points, Peoplowski had 17 points, and Veeder 11 points.

“We played a great first half, tough third quarter, tough fourth quarter. They (Clarkston) made a couple more plays than we did. Overall, I’m proud of my kids. They battled,” Lake Orion head coach Bob Brydges said.

Clarkston got a bit more balanced scoring with 16 points each by Robak and Brooklyn Covert, plus 10 points from Morgner, and eight points from Ellery Hernandez, who also keyed the press in the third quarter along with Covert.

That extra scoring depth would prove important in a game with 50 total fouls. Both teams had multiple starters in foul trouble all night and three players would foul out – two for Lake Orion and one for Clarkston.

“It was a lot on the defensive end, too. Everybody stepped up on the defensive end,” Clarkston head coach Aaron Goodnough said. “We started covering the girls that we knew were going to hurt us,” he added.

Photo gallery of Clarkston vs. Lake Orion in D1 girls hoops district final action

Clarkston (17-7) claims its second straight district title and moves on to face Utica Eisenhower in the regional semifinals on Monday at Lapeer High School.

“We’ve got two practices. We planned practices for the weekend,” Goodnough said. “We like our chances. We planned to at least get this far and beyond. Now that we’ve had yet another close game – we’ve been in a lot of them. We’re tested. So we get into those positions, and we don’t panic.”

Lake Orion finishes the season 13-11.

“I had nine brand-new kids. So it’s a tough situation. We’ll be better next year for it, so that now these kids have got some experience and understanding of how hard it is to win something like this. I expect to be here next year, playing them (Clarkston) again,” Brydges said. “I’m feeling pretty good about where we’re at. It was a real nice run we’ve made this last couple of weeks,” he added.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS – The Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks started fast and rolled to a 55-33 win over the Birmingham Groves Falcons in Monday night’s D1 district quarterfinal at Marian.

Groves came into the game shorthanded, finding out earlier in the day that it would be missing some key players. And Bloomfield Hills took full advantage.

Bloomfield Hills cranked up the press and started the game on a 25-3 run, a sharp contrast from when the Falcons’ won 64-56 when the teams played just six days prior.

“We got to trapping them early and used our speed,” Black Hawks coach Renardo Brown said. “Later on, it was ‘watch out what we’re doing,’ because we were reaching around. So we started sitting back into the zone a little bit more.”

The Falcons did eventually settle in, but they could never get enough of a run going to close the gap significantly. The Black Hawks largely maintained at least a 20-point lead for the rest of the game, once pushing the advantage to 30 points. And although Groves cut it down to as little as 18 points, at no point were the Falcons able to get a big run going.

Part of that was due to Bloomfield Hills’s dominance on the glass. Led by the trio of Kaynna Jordan, Brielle Brooks, and Briana Young, Bloomfield Hills held a 35-21 rebounding edge and largely held the Falcons to one-shot possessions – if the Bloomfield Hills press wasn’t turning Groves over.

Young finished with a huge night – 28 points, 11 rebounds, and six steals – recording game-highs in all three categories. Brooks had seven points and 10 rebounds, while Evia Barbu scored 11 points for the Black Hawks.

Groves was led by 10 points from Genevieve Meihn and nine points by Sophie Schwanik.

Bloomfield Hills (9-11) moves on to face Southfield A & T in Wednesday’s district semifinals. The teams played a pair of close games already this season that were both won by the Warriors by a combined total of nine points.

“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board. We’ve got some things to work on to get ready for Southfield A&T,” Brown said. “Southfield beat us two times already. But it’s hard to beat a team three times. So we’ve just got to work hard and come ready to play Wednesday.”

Photos from Birmingham Groves vs. Bloomfield Hills in D1 girls hoops district quarterfinal action

Groves finishes the year 6-16. The Falcons will return nearly everyone from a roster filled with freshmen and sophomores.

“We’re looking forward to the future," Groves first-year head coach Jessica Duleba said. "A lot of the underclassmen are also playing travel basketball, so that will help. They’re going to keep playing in the offseason, and we’re going to put stuff together for everyone else to do stuff in the summer and keep working and get better for next year.

"I think even with what we did toward the end of the season, I don’t think anyone expected anything from us. We were projected to finish last in the league, and we ended up tied for third. So I think we got better and some teams stayed the same. So I think it will just continue on for the next few years."