Overrated

'Overrated'

Cavaliers get punked by Clarkston, again.

11 January 2008

greatlakeshoops.com

Clarkston - The Clarkston students didn't start chanting "overrated" until the seven-minute mark of the third quarter against Flint Carman-Ainsworth, which may have actually been a little tardy. By that time, the no. 7-ranked Cavaliers were down 21 points and in danger of yet another embarrassing blowout against the Wolves.

Bob Root, Carman-Ainsworth's new coach, turned up the heat on defense in the fourth quarter and, lo and behold, the Cavaliers jumped right back into the game.

Starting the final quarter down 22 points, the Cavaliers began to press Clarkston and ran off 14 unanswered points to cut the Wolves' lead to eight with six minutes left in the game.

The run was led by the quick hands of Keion Arkwright, who got the Cavaliers going with four points in less than 10 seconds.

A basket by senior point guard Jon Lee with three minutes left had Clarkston reeling, up only four.

Clarkston responded with two straight baskets in the lane, one a drive by Julius Porter and the other a put-back by Oliver Kupe.

Time ran out on the Cavaliers as Clarkston hit all their free throws to finish out the game, 60-51.

C-A 4 10 11 26 - 51

Clarkston 15 14 18 13 - 60

Game notes

--Some enterprising student at Carman-Ainsworth could make a killing right now on WWRD bracelets (what would Rory do?). The Cavaliers' former head coach, Rory Mattar, who took a position as a Principal last year, would have done for the entire game what Bob Root didn't do until the final quarter--press. The Cavaliers, more athletic at every position than Clarkston, played a 2-3 zone and never pressured the ball up the court until they absolutely had to. When he finally let his team play defense the way they are capable of, Clarkston couldn't get the ball to half court. C-A scored 14 points in two minutes after scoring 14 in the entire first half! Someone needs to remind Coach Root that he has athletes like Kieon Arkwright, Jon Lee, Reggie Stallings and Ahmad Cheers who could play defense for me any day.

--Seniors Lee and Arkwright really came to play tonight, especially in the second half. It wasn't Lee's best game, but he, along with Arkwright, stepped up when his team needed him most. Lee was the only player who even challenged Clarkston offensively in an abysmal first half in which the Cavs could manage only 14 points. Arkwright, for his part, sparked the fourth quarter run with great hands on defense. Arkwright, who finished with 16 points and five steals, had four steals in that quarter alone. Lee finished with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

--The Cavaliers frontline was a man down, as starting big man Terrance Keaton missed his team's biggest game of the year after being suspended from school. Keaton is Carman-Ainsworth's best rebounder and low post defender, and his presence was sorely missed. Sophomores Dee Chapman and Jaylen Larry struggled offensively and defensively against a tall Clarkston post. The Wolves' big men absolutely torched the Cavs on the offensive glass.

--Clarkston's top gun tonight was Julius Porter, a dead ringer for Oregon's Tajuan Porter--just a little taller. He is extremely quick, and really challenged the Cavaliers' guards in the first half. The kid has a nice little pull-up, too. He finished with 16 points. Brandon Pokley and Oliver Kupe finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

--Reggie Stallings (left), also known as the best athlete on the floor, didn't even challenge Clarkston's overmatched perimeter defenders. The senior didn't score in the first half, and didn't get his first basket until the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter. If Stallings won't take it to the rack, a newly eligible transfer named Alan Sharp will.

--Root, whose team only scored two points in the second quarter against Davison last week, has coached this team back into the 1960s on the offensive end. There is little to no creativity on that end of the floor, and there's really no excuse for it. And on defense? What other coach in Genesee County, given a roster chock-full of top-tier athletes, would zone up a team like Clarkston and not pressure the ball? The Wolves had only one top-shelf ballhandler.

--A Clarkston fan sitting behind me asked another fan what the term "overrated" meant. His response: "It's just a term you give to a team that's supposed to be good, but isn't." That was the rub on Flint C-A last season, but this season was supposed to be different.

--Clarkston is set to play Saginaw Arthur Hill next Sunday at Pontiac Northern. The winner of that game could earn the number one ranking in the state.