Clinton’s JV boys and girls tangled with opponents from Wayne and Wilson counties during a holiday tournament played at Southern Wayne High School. The boys took the tournament title, defeating Goldsboro 79-33. The girls came in second, losing to Fike by 1 point, 40-39.

Boys game

JV boys coach Bobby Lamb said his team had a great defensive effort in the tournament final, which saw both teams fiercely competitive, with neither able to move ahead more than 6 points.

“It was a really close game,” Lamb said, “but my guys hung in there to get the win.”

Lamb said it was a total team effort. No individual team stats were available.

The tournament wins send Clinton’s JV boys into the Christmas break with a perfect 10-0 record.

JV girls

Coming off a win Wednesday night against Goldsboro, the young Lady Dark Horses entered the tournament final Thursday night with strong play, but the extremely physical game left three team members injured and Clinton on the losing end. Final score was 40-39.

“It was a really close game throughout, but it was also a very physical game,” said JV coach Regina Parker. “We held our own throughout, and we were even leading at the half 19-14, but they went on an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter and that really killed us.”

Parker said she was very pleased with the way her JV girls played. “They played their hearts out and left everything out there on the court. We just fell short.”

Leading the way for the Horses was Jasmine Fryar with 13 points. Jacklyn Parker had 9; Yasmine Williams, 7; Ashley Dixon, 4; Palaya Butler, 4; and Chelsea Underwood, 2.

Clinton’s girls head into the Christmas break now and return to the court on Jan. 2 for an away game against Croatan.