Moscow's boys use late run to stave off nonleague foe Clarkston

Dec. 14—MOSCOW — Clarkston's Landon Taylor had a three-point play with 1:24 remaining as the Bantams would pull within two points against Moscow in a nonleague game Tuesday at Bear Den.

Then Clarkston's offense accounted for just one free throw from there as the Bears closed out a 72-66 win.

"I thought we played hard and we competed," Moscow coach Josh Uhrig said. "It was a really good team effort tonight."

Here's what we learned:

A fast-paced third quarter

Moscow went into halftime up 34-30. When the two foes came out of the locker room, it was a fireworks show that included five lead changes.

After the Bears (3-1) got a Traiden Cummings field goal, the Bantams (3-2) went on a 90-second, 7-0 run to go up 37-36. Xander VanTine hit a 3-pointer from the right wing that gave Clarkston its first lead since the 4:03 mark in the second quarter.

"When we execute, good things happen," Bantams coach Justin Jones said. "We were executing and getting the shots we wanted."

The teams traded the lead three more times before Ian Hillman scored to put Moscow ahead 52-51 with 30 seconds left in the third. Hillman scored against just before the end of the quarter to put the Bears up 54-51.

"We did something that we haven't done all year," Uhrig said. "We were able to put our big man down low and put four guards on the outside and it was effective all night."

Containing Santana

Coming into the game, the Bears' main focus was on Clarkston junior guard Xavier Santana.

The Bears ran mostly a zone defense and had as many as four guards on the floor at a time. Moscow "limited" Santana to 31 points.

"(Santana) is a really good player," Uhrig said. "We put four different guys on him, and everyone knew what they needed to do to slow him down. He had to earn all of his points tonight, and he really did."

Santana has been the Bantams' leading scorer in all of their games this season. The only other Clarkston player to hit double figures was Carter Steinwand with 16.

"I thought we played in waves tonight," Jones said. "There are moments where we put two or three minutes together where we're playing with the right amount of intensity, and then there are times that we can't continue that momentum. We have to learn to continue that momentum Or we're going to play in games like this."

Leaders of the pack

Dylan Rehder and Hillman combined for more than half of Moscow's scoring, with Hillman pacing the Bears with 26 and Rehder notching 14.

"Everything we do is going to go through those two," Uhrig said. "They're our two leaders on offense, obviously, so they're going to have plenty of these opportunities."

Hillman's work on the defensive end was as impressive, as he finished with three steals and six rebounds.

The duo also each had three 3s. As a team, Moscow made 10 3-pointers.

"I wouldn't say we're a great shooting team," Uhrig said. "We're average, I'd say. It's nice seeing one or two go down because then everyone thinks that they can get one to fall."

GIRLS

The Clarkston girls registered a 42-26 win in the first game of the doubleheader.

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"We finally made some adjustments," Clarkston coach Debbie Sobotta said. "We got a hand on the ball and were able to apply pressure."

The Bantams (4-2) were paced by sophomore guard Alexia Villavicencio's game-high 12 points.

"She's very deceptive," Sobotta said. "She's always been a quiet role player, but I thought she really stepped up tonight."

Kendall Wallace sparked Clarkston defensively and had nine points.

"(Wallace) was a big reason that the game went the way that it did," she said. "Her on-the-ball defense was fantastic."

Kennedy Thompson and Jacque Williams each finished with nine points for Moscow (1-7).

BOYS

CLARKSTON (3-2)

Xavier Santana 9 8-9 31, Landon Taylor 3 1-1 7, Xander Van Tine 2 2-2 8, Carter Steinwand 7 1-3 16, Dustin Beck 1 0-0 2, Josh Hoffman 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 12-15 66.

MOSCOW (3-1)

Cody Wilson 0 6-7 6, Brayson Reed 1 0-0 3, Traiden Cummings 3 0-0 7, Dylan Rehder 4 3-4 14, Grant Abendroth 5 0-0 12, Joey Williams 2 0-0 4, Caleb Skinner 0 0-0 0, Zac Skinner 0 0-0 0, Ian Hillman 9 5-7 26. Totals 24 14-18 72.

Clarkston 18 12 21 15—66

Moscow 11 23 20 18—72

3-point goals — Santana 5, Van Tine 2, Steinwand, Rehder 3, Hillman 3, Abendroth 2, Cummings, Reed.

GIRLS

CLARKSTON (4-2)

Kendall Wallace 4 0-0 9, Olivia Gustafson 0 0-0 0, Ryann Combs 0 0 0-0 0, Taryn Demers 1 0-0 2, Sophie Henderson 0 0-0 0, Eloise Teasley 5 0-1 12, Ella Leavitt 1 0-0 2, Alahondra Perez 1 0-0 3, Samara Powaukee 0 0-0 0, Joey Miller 2 0-0 4, Alexia Villavicencio 5 3-4 13. Totals 19 3-5 45.

MOSCOW (1-7)

McKenna Knott 0 0-0 0, Kolbi Kiblen 1 0-0 2, Myah Parsons 0 0-0 0, Maya Anderson 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Thompson 3 1-2 9, Taylor McLean 1 0-0 2, Jacque Williams 3 3-6 9, Jessa Skinner 2 0-1 4. Totals 10 4-9 26.

Clarkston 11 6 17 11—45

Moscow 8 7 3 8—26

3-point goals — Teasley 2, Perez, Wallace, Thompson 2.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.