Sarah Burton notches 54 against Karns
Lady Dragons get big wins wins last week
Clinton’s Sarah Burton scored often last Tuesday night as the Lady Dragons came from behind (twice) to take a hard-fought non-district win. (photo:Ken Leinart )
On Tuesday, Sarah Burton led Clinton to a 70-67 win over visiting Karns, or as some might call it, “the Sarah Burton game.”
How dominant was Burton’s performance? She scored 54 of the 70 points registered by the Lady Dragons. Burton scored all 21 points in the first quarter to stake Clinton to a 21-13 lead. She scored 11 of her team’s 17 points in the third quarter and 15 of the Lady Dragons’ 19 points in the crucial fourth quarter.
Despite the strong performance by Burton, the Lady Beavers put up a fight. After falling behind early, they managed to cut into the Clinton lead to trail just 34-32 at the half. The Lady Dragons extended the lead to 51-44 in the third quarter and held off a spirited final run by Karns.
Burton led all scorers with 54 points, which included just a single three-point basket.
KHS 13 19 12 23 67
CHS 21 13 17 19 70
Karns - Reese Roberts (18), Rylee Roberts (17), Anna Kate Reichter (16), Madison Perrin (7), Ceazon Newton (4), Javianna Pendergrass (3), Abby Harris (2)
CHS - Sarah Burton (54), Bailey Burroughs (4), Belle Starnes (4), Ashaunti Davis (4), Abby Harris (2)
As exciting as the Karns game was, the 54-47 win at Anderson County was perhaps even more thrilling for Clinton fans.
In stark contrast to the previous game, Burton was held scoreless in the first quarter as the Lady Mavs used a 14-2 run to take a 16-7 lead. Anderson County’s Emily Mustard scored 12 of the points during the run and 14 points in the quarter.
The second quarter saw a dramatic reversal as the Lady Dragons rode scoring from Bailey Burroughs and Burton to power a 15-2 run to take a 28-23 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, the Lady Dragons got a couple of three-pointers from Sydney Herrell and buckets from Belle Starnes to hold a 41-37 lead.
The Lady Mavs did not quit, and Kylee Alvis helped spur a mini-run that pulled Anderson County to within five points of Clinton with less than two minutes remaining. But the Lady Dragons sank their free throws and held on for the district win.
“In the second quarter, we had a bad run of turnovers, and they got back in the game,” said Mitch Cupples, Anderson County’s coach.
“We got into foul trouble and had some fatigue. One of my starters got in foul trouble [early] and that hurt us on the press. They [Clinton] made the shots and we didn’t,” he said.
Clinton Head Coach Alicia Phillips was unavailable for comment at press time.
Burton led all scorers with 21 points, while Burroughs added 12 in the win.
Mustard led Anderson County with 19 points, while Alvis added 11.
The Lady Dragons will host district rival Halls on Friday and will host Gibbs on Tuesday, Dec. 14. Tip-off for both games is 6 p.m.
The Lady Mavs return to action on Friday, when they visit district rival Scott. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. They host Carter on Monday, Dec. 13, and Oakdale on Tuesday, Dec. 14. Tip-off for those games is 6 p.m.
CHS 7 21 13 13 54
AC 16 7 14 10 47
CHS - Sarah Burton (21), Bailey Burroughs (12), Sydney Herrell (9), Belle Starnes (6), Ashaunti Davis (3), Elly Leander (2), Maggie Stokes (1)
AC - Emily Mustard (19), Kylee Alvis (11), Shelby Kelly (6), Lydia Meldrum (6), Jaylynn Bullock (5)
