The Clinton Dark Horses kept their chances for a share of the Four County Conference Championship alive on Tuesday when they defeated conference leader, Trask, 70-60.

It was a quick start for both teams, as they were tied up at 14-14 after a quarter. Clinton built a six point lead heading into halftime at 32-26, then Trask cut it back to five in the third quarter, before the Dark Horses were able to pull away a bit in the final quarter.

Jeremiah Pope led the way for Clinton, scoring 17 points. Jaquan McLean added 15 points, and Logan Batchelor and Xzavier Howard each added 9 points for the Dark Horses.

Clinton head coach Randy Jordan was pleased with the way his team played, handing Trask just their second loss of the season.

“We played very well from start to finish,” said Jordan. “We executed on both ends of the floor, and I really like the way we played tonight. The guys played hard, and every time Trask would score or make a little run, we would have an answer. It was a really big win for us, and all of our preseason goals are still reachable for us.”

At 15-7 and 10-3 in the conference, Clinton now needs to round out their regular season with a win at Wallace and they need Pender to beat Trask that same night. If these things happen, then Clinton and Pender will share the conference championship. Almost any other way the table is turned, Clinton would finish in second place in the league for the regular season.

Clinton at Wallace is set for a tip around 7:35 on Thursday night.

Reach Adam Capps at 910-214-9585

By Adam Capps

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