Dragons drop two games

January 3, 2018 by Richard Evans

The Clinton Dragons fell to Oakdale by a score of 70-66 on Thursday in the opening round of the Jim Cordell Christmas Classic at Harriman.

Oakdale got out to an early 18-14 lead in the first quarter before the Dragons rallied in the second quarter to take a 33-32 lead at the half.

The Eagles bounced back in the third quarter to reclaim the lead at 48-46.

Clinton scored 20 points down the stretch but it was not enough as Oakdale held off the charge and won the game.

The difference in the game came at the free throw line where the Dragons finished just 7-16 while the Eagles went 12-18 at the charity stripe.

Oakdale also outscored Clinton on points off turnovers by a margin of 13-6.

Daraon Jones led the Dragons with 21 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Evan Winchester scored 14 for Clinton.

CHS 14 19 13 20 66

OHS 18 14 16 22 70

CHS — Daraon Jones (21), Evan Winchester (14), Luke Harrison (10), Tony Harris (10), Trevon Hill (6), Chase Lockard (3), Andrew Shoopman (2)

Oakdale — Stats not available at press time

The Dragons dropped their second game of the tournament on Friday when they lost to Lenoir City by a score of 63-49.

Both teams lit up the scoreboard early on as the Panthers grabbed a narrow 20-19 lead in the first quarter. The Dragons got into foul trouble and also went cold from the floor in the second quarter and Lenoir City took advantage as they stretched their lead to 36-27 at halftime.

Clinton tried climbed back into the game in the third quarter behind the scoring of Harrison, Winchester, and Trevon Hill. The Panthers led the Dragons 40-36 at the end of three quarters.

The fourth quarter proved to be a back-breaker for Clinton as Lenoir City outscored them 23-13 in the closing minutes of the game.

For the game, the Dragons shot just 42.4 percent from the floor compared to 61.8 percent for the Panthers.

Lenoir City’s David Deacon led all scorers with 26 points.

Harrison led Clinton with 15 points. Winchester had 11 points - including a pair of 3-pointers. Hill also posted 11 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in the contest.

The Dragons visit Gibbs on Friday and travel to Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. for each game.

CHS 19 8 9 13 49

LC 20 16 4 23 63

CHS — Luke Harrison (15), Trevon Hill (11), Evan Winchester (11), Daraon Jones (3), Tony Harris (2), Andrew Shoopman (2)

Lenoir City — David Deacon (26), David Ross (19), Braden Simon (10), Colby Kizer (5), Ben Halcomb (3), Seth Meadows (2)