Dan Stickradt
Sports Scene
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
There’s a growing wish of boys’ basketball programs throughout Oakland County to develop and establish themselves just like Clarkston has.
Clarkston has thrived for decades in the sport, and since alumnus Dan Fife took over the program back in 1982-83, the Wolves have become a model of consistency. No other public school in the area is even close.
In 22 of the past 25 seasons, the Wolves have captured Class A district crowns. Eight times in 20 years, they have won regional titles, and they reached the state quarterfinals seven straight times from 2003-2009.
Clarkston has won 37 league championships dating back to the early 1950s. In Fife’s first 32 campaigns, the Wolves have won or shared the league crown 25 times. Since the inception of the Oakland Activities Association in 1994-95, Clarkston has won the OAA Division I/Red Division 15 times, including eight straight and 11 of the past 12 seasons.
“It’s the type of kids we have in this program,” admitted Fife, who played three sports for Clarkston in the late 1960s and who is the school’s fourth all-time leading scorer. “Most of our kids grow up in Clarkston, playing in the Saturday morning leagues. I don’t know how many communities have those Saturday leagues like Clarkston. They want to play here one day. We also have gotten a lot support from the school, parents, and people of this community.”
Clarkston has never won a state title in basketball, but it has reached the Class A Final Four twice since first forming its program back in the 1920s. The first time was in 1980, with future NBA star Tim McCormick. The other trip to the state semifinal round came in 2009, when the Wolves had several college prospects.
“We came close a few times, and that [2009] season we found a way to get there,” said Fife, whose team had a cold shooting day and lost in the semifinal to Kalamazoo Central.
Clarkston is off to a 10-0 start this season, following a recent overtime victory over Oak Park. It is the heavy favorite to win its ninth straight league title, although the coach is always cautiously optimistic. “There are always good teams in our division,” said Fife, who noted that legions of Division I college players and a handful of NBA players have come from the OAA. “We know that North Farmington is very good, Southfield, Adams is getting better. One thing I have learned over the years is that you can’t take a night off in this league. That’s when you get beat.”
Clarkston’s current roster is not much different than some of the others over the years. The difference is in its depth — and there is plenty. “I think we can go 10, 11 deep in a game. I guess that’s just me having faith in our bench. We don’t really lose that much when we bring in guys off the bench,” said Fife. “We have a solid starting five, but I think using this many guys can wear teams down. I think our depth is the only difference than some of our past teams. We shoot the basketball well, hit free throws, take care of the basketball. That’s what has made so many of our teams successful. I think we just use more players than we have in the past.”
Clarkston’s schedule will become much tougher in the second half of the season, mainly due to league games. But beating perennial state powerhouse Detroit Pershing by 21 points and holding Carman-Ainsworth, a Sweet 16 participant last season, to only nine points demonstrate that Clarkston could be a team worthy of a long tournament run this winter.
As for Clarkston’s basketball history, it’s already long-since cemented itself as model of consistency. Proof is in the numbers. Could this be the best Clarkston team, or one of the best, that has walked onto the floor? Could this team add more banners to a collection of that already makes other schools in the area quite envious?
“I don’t know how good we are. We’ll worry about that when we get to [the state tournament],” said Fife. “Right now, we’re just working on getting better. Our first goal is to win the league. We can’t be thinking about anything else right now.”
dan.Stickradt@northoaklandsports.com