Dragons hoops opens play
Clinton High School’s boys basketball team opened its season with a pair of home losses on Saturday.
The Dragons (0-2) were missing players from the football team, which was eliminated from the TSSAA Class 5A State Quarterfinals Friday night.
Clinton opened the day with a 55-32 loss to William Blount, then lost 58-45 to Powell.
Veteran Head Coach Chris Lockard, despite seeing his short-handed squad lose to William Blount and longtime rival Powell, was pleased with his team’s effort.
“I felt pretty good,” he said. “We held William Blount to 55 points, and they scored 81 points in their first Hall of Fame game, and they had 77 points in a game they played earlier in the game.
“Defensively, I feel like we played pretty well, and in the Powell game, it was close until we had a long scoring drought.”
The Dragons had an early 16-13 lead against the Panthers.
Clinton trailed 23-22 at halftime before Powell opened the second half with a 23-8 run, which would be the difference in the contest.
“We struggled to score and our kids knew that we really weren’t quite ready in that area because we’d been working hard on our defensive intensity,” Lockard said. “That will come. Right now, we’re missing three starters and a couple of role players that we’ll get back soon.”
Against the Panthers, Anderson County transfer Carter Nelson had 17 points, three assists and two steals, while Lebron Booker added 15 points and four rebounds.
In the day’s lid-lifter against William Blount, Clinton, which trailed, 40-17, at halftime, got 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals from Booker.
Lady Dragons win opener: Clinton outlasted William Blount, 67-62, Saturday.