Dragons find their groove
Clinton boys now 6-3 in district play
Despite getting off to a slow start this season, Clinton High School’s boys basketball team appears to be hitting its stride at the right time, just before the District 4-AAA tournament.
The Dragons have posted victories in five of their last six games.
They won two out of three last week. They closed out the week with a 76-48 victory over Cumberland Gap at home, in the friendly confines of the Don W, Lockard Gymnasium, Friday night.
That victory came after the Dragons (9-12 overall, 6-3 in the district) dropped a league game against Union County on Wednesday. Jan. 31. Clinton fell to the Patriots 56-52.
“In the Cumberland Gap game, we answered a wake-up call and we responded and we played pretty well,” CHS Coach Chris Lockard said.
“The Union County game was really a wake-up call for us. It was a bad night.
“It was just one of those weird nights where we just didn’t play well,” he said. “It was weird playing on a Wednesday ... and we didn’t score the ball well. Union County is a good team, and a lot of credit goes to them, but that’s a game we’d all like to have back.”
Against the Patriots, the Dragons were mired in a game-long shooting slump. No CHS player managed to crack into double figures in the scoring column. Jeremiah Lee was Clinton’s leading scorer as he had just nine points.
Carter Nelson and Jacob Dooley had five points each.
Clinton obviously couldn’t wait to put the loss to the Patriots in the rearview mirror, and the Dragons wasted little time erasing the bad memories once they returned to the floor against the Panthers Friday night.
Clinton opened the contest by outscoring Cumberland Gap 22-11 in the first quarter.
By halftime, the Dragons had all but put the Panthers away, extending their advantage to 42-30.
And from there, things would only get worse for the Panthers, who managed to score just 15 points after the break, including only four points in the third frame.
Lee was once again the Dragons’ top scorer as he finished with 20 points. Defensively, Lee came up with three steals.
LeBron Booker totaled 14 points and five rebounds against the Panthers.
Nelson added 12 points, while Dooley finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.
Despite the hiccup last week against the Patriots, Lockard said that he’s been pleased with his team’s effort of
late.
“We’ve been playing pretty good basketball,” he said. “Our defense is not quite where I want it, but the kids are playing and working hard,
and that’s all you can ask.
“Even as bad as we played against Union County, we had a shot that could’ve won late, with about eight seconds left, but we missed it,” he said. “It just didn’t go in, and we ended up losing by four.”
Clinton opened the week with a 60-46 league win over Gibbs at home on Tuesday, Jan. 30
Clinton closed out district play against Anderson County Tuesday night, but results were
not available at press time.
