Consider those lessons learned. Reinserted into the starting lineup after being held out of a couple games for undisclosed reasons, Clark went for a game-high 20 points in leading Wayne to a clutch 63-52 boys basketball victory on Friday night at Northmont, the area’s top-ranked Division I team.
The Warriors (12-2) will likely overtake the Thunderbolts (11-2) in that top spot next week. All they had to do was snap Northmont’s 11-game win streak.
Clark saw to that, adding five rebounds and four steals. He seemed particularly amped up in a high-speed game that wasn’t decided until the final minutes. Wayne finished on an 18-4 run to pull even with Northmont at a co-leading 4-1 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference Central Division.
Wayne coach Travis Trice also sensed Clark’s refocus. He even matched him against Northmont speedy mini guard Keith Richardson in the deciding final quarter. Richardson paced the T-Bolts with 16 points, but that was offset by as many Northmont turnovers in the second half.
“(Clark) came up huge,” Trice said. “This isn’t just basketball and he’s trying to understand and figure that out.”
Wayne has mounted a modest four-game win streak and was coming off a one-point defeat of Beavercreek. Still a work in progress, the Warriors also received 15 points from junior Juan Ford and 12 from sophomore Ahmad Wagner.
Northmont trailed by 10 in the first quarter following a steal and slam by Wayne’s Xerius Williams. But the Bolts quickly drew even and stayed in contention until wilting in the fourth. The final margin was its greatest deficit.
“Every time we did some good things, they came right back at us,” conceded Northmont coach Jim Brown. “The thing that you have to do against Wayne is limit their transition baskets. We didn’t do that at all.”
Fittingly, the teams are matched in the regular-season finale next month. That game will be at Wayne’s new gymnasium. It could be another No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.
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