Dragons fall in OT
Clinton’s Teagan Bolinger looks for an outlet last week during the game when the Dragons hosted Oak Ridge.
The Dragons fought an uphill battle against longtime rival Powell all night before bowing to the Panthers 74-61 in overtime at Jeff Hunter Gymnasium in Powell.
The Panthers (5-13) led by as many as 11 points in regulation only to see Clinton take a 54-52 lead with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter when Jeremiah Lee drove the lane and scored.
Powell would tie the game with 4.1 seconds left when Kaleb Walker was fouled and converted a pair of free throws to send the game to overtime.
Clinton had two good looks to win, but the shots fell short for the Dragons (7-12).
Longtime CHS Coach Chris Lockard was obviously disappointed after seeing his squad drop its second consecutive game. Clinton lost at home to Fulton 78-54 on Saturday.
“I’ll just be honest, it was a little bit of attitude and I started to feel that way in the first quarter,” Lockard said. “But we came back and you don’t just do that over here at Powell. Don’t take it wrong, we’ve played so hard in our last 11 or 12 games and we started playing (in the third quarter).
“We had two good looks, but the shots just didn’t go.”
The Dragons defeated the Panthers earlier this season. Clinton nabbed a 61-42 victory over Powell on Nov. 19 at home in the friendly confines of the Don W. Lockard Gymnasium in a Hall of Fame game.
But that was a different Powell team, as the Panthers’ two-sport athletes were still in the Class 5A football playoffs.
“They were a different team and they had some different guys,” Lockard said.
One of those football players, Dylan Stooksbury, knocked down four 3-pointers en route to scoring 14 points for the Panthers.
Lee and Powell’s Bryce Jardret shared high-scoring honors as both finished with 19 points.
Lee, who fouled out in overtime, was one of three Dragons to post double figures in Northwest Knox County as Bryson Maddox scored 12 points, including 10 in the first half. Lebron Booker scored seven of his 10 points after halftime.
The Panthers put the game away early in the extra frame as they went on a 12-1 run, and from there the Dragons never recovered.
Clinton returns to action Friday when it makes the short trip to Anderson County.
There, the Dragons will attempt to complete the regular-season sweep against the Mavericks (8-8).
The Dragons notched a 48-38 win at CHS in December but ACHS was without several players who were on a state football playoff run that netted a Class 4A title.
The victory over ACHS was Lockard’s 400th career win. But the coach said his team must play better than it did against the Panthers now, as the Mavs are 1-2 in District 4-AAA play. Clinton is 2-1 in the league.
“Anderson County is playing well right now,” Lockard said. “They have all of their football guys back and in condition.
“We’ll have to play better than we did tonight.”