Opposite Directions

Written Friday January 9th, at 1:15 PM

Heading into the game on Thursday night, the Dragons knew it had a tough challenge with Clarkston's Marquette bound senior Erika Davenport.

Davenport scored 30 points, leading the Wolves to a 48-35 Girls Basketball win over Orion. It was the Dragons first loss of the season.

But also I look at two teams going opposite directions.

Orion has been here before, beating the teams they are suppose to beat and the lose to the teams that are suppose to lose. The Dragons were 12-8 last season but did not get that signature win a season ago.

I thought Orion played well for three quarters but foul trouble was the difference in the game and also Clarkston's defense showed up. They had a strong first half led by Sarah Voss, who had 11 of her 13 points in the second quarter. The Dragons led 23-16 at half.

Clarkston would then outscore Orion 32-12 in the second half but lets look at it from a different perspective.

The game told us that the two programs are going in opposite directions. The Wolves are so dependent on Davenport to carry them in games, which could be a huge problem if she gets shut down especially in league play. The Dragons are more balanced whether it's Hannah Hamay, Evelyn Wischmeyer, Delaney Haan, Cheyenne Lada-Sterling, Blair Stewart, or Sarah Voss carrying the load. Clarkston plays in the Red, Orion is in the White.

But it may not be long when Orion rejoins Clarkston in the Red.

In the Junior Varsity contest, the Dragons won 33-18. Despite the fact that Orion had a size mismatch against the much taller Wolves, the Dragons were balanced, they were the aggressive team and showed it on both sides of the floor. There was times that Clarkston's coach said that his team was scared of the Dragons and that was shocking to see. Got to give credit Orion coach Kevin Kopec and Courtney Kimmel, they had this team prepared for Clarkston.

In the Freshman contest, the words domination is an understatement. The Dragons dominated the Wolves 40-8 and led 28-2 at half. Orion had balanced scoring on the night and its a credit to coach Bob Brydges who returns back to the bench and has had successful coaching career at Bloomfield Hills Lahser along with his team.

The three games in Clarkston show two different programs going two different directions. One going up and one going down. Although it might not show this year, the games showed the direction both teams are going.