Clinton plays close vs. Wildcats
Dragons can’t overcome Oak Ridge free throws in 69-56 loss
Jackson Garner rushes into the paint to put up a shot for the Dragons while a Wildcat tries to block it. The Dragons lost 56-69. (photo:Collin Riggs )
The Dragons started strong, ending the first quarter ahead 19-13, sinking multiple treys to take a quick lead that gave them some strong momentum going into the second quarter.
Unfortunately for the Dragons, that momentum slowed down, and Oak Ridge mounted a strong comeback in the second period to end the first half ahead 32-26.
Clinton came out ahead on shooting percentages, making 55-percent of two-pointers to Oak Ridge’s 51-percent, and 22-percent of treys to Oak Ridge’s 20-percent. While Clinton won on the percentages, Oak Ridge overwhelmed the Dragons with the sheer amount of shots taken. While Clinton finished with 20 two-point attempts, Oak Ridge finished with 45, making 23 of them. On top of that, Clinton gave the Wildcats 25 free throws.
One reason Oak Ridge was able to shoot so many times was because of just how many rebounds the Wildcats managed to get.
The Wildcats finished with 14 offensive rebounds to Clinton’s eight, and 25 defensive rebounds to Clinton’s 17. Oak Ridge also finished with 1.06 points per possession, while Clinton managed only 0.88 per possession and gave up 15 points off turnovers.
Lane Harrison led the team on points for the night, finishing with 19, including three treys and six rebounds. He also finished with one of the team’s few steals for the game.
Behind Harrison, Jackson Garner finished with 16 points and a single trey, as well as five assists, two deflections, and two steals.
In third place, Rishon Bright finished with 12 points as well as an astounding four blocks and two assists.
At the bottom of points, Trace Thackerson once again showed up as a team player with five rebounds (the second-most behind Harrison) and six assists, as well as a steal.
Chris Lockard, head coach for the Dragons, said he was proud of the way his team played.
“Well, I thought the number one thing was that we gave effort for four quarters and I was really pleased with the effort they gave,” he said. “Bottom line was we didn’t shoot the ball well. We didn’t make shots. We missed shots that we typically hit – open threes and shots around the rim. That was probably our worst shooting game of the year.
“Now, I think you have to partially credit Oak Ridge’s defense with that. They did a good job of containing our drive and pushing our offense out a bit. With this team, I typically welcome pressure defense because of our guys. That’s part of the game sometimes and I thought the kids really reached down and played good defense and did a pretty good job on the boards considering Oak Ridge’s size and athleticism over us. I felt like we really battled them.”
Lockard mentioned that Oak Ridge’s size factor may have played a role in the loss, but he thought both teams competed well.
“A big advantage for them was being able to throw it in to their big man – which we had trouble defending since he’s 6-foot7. If he got it too deep, it was hard to guard him. With all that being said, I thought the intensity of the game was extremely high considering there were hardly any fans there. This would have been a great game to have a full house. I thought both teams played hard and we took them out of a few things they typically like to do. They were just able to score a little bit better around the rim than we were. We got the shots we wanted – we just didn’t hit them.
“It’s one of those tough games you walk away from thinking, ‘I thought we played well enough to be in the game throughout.” Lockard said. “The score doesn’t reflect how close the game was, because the separation came late with us having to foul to stop the clock and everything. The effort was what I was looking for. If we can continue to give that kind of effort – we’ll be in a good place.”