The Clinton Lady Dark Horses defeated the Lady Patriots of Pender 70-17 Tuesday in the first round of the Four County Conference Tournament. The game, played at Clinton,

featured the 2nd seed from the regular season versus the 7th seed.

Clinton wasted no time getting started. In fact, they may have played their best quarter of the year to open the game. The Lady Horses led 28-2 after 1 quarter. Brielle Mitchell, among others, had the hot hand with 14 points.

In the 2nd period, Clinton came back down to earth, scoring 10 points, while holding Pender to 7. It was 38-9 at intermission.

The Lady Horses outscored the visitors 19-8 in the third frame. It was 57-17 as the 4th quarter began. Clinton shut out the Lady Patriots 13-0 in final period, for the70-17 win.

Ashlyn Williams led the way for the Lady Horses with 19 points. Mitchell tallied 17. Alex Canady connected on 15. Kiera Mabry and Alania Capps added 5 each. Zoey Harris scored 4, while Edye Carr contributed 3. Charica Joyner had 2.

Kamera Thompson led Pender with 6 points.

“We’re treating this as our state playoffs,” asserted Clinton head coach Chris Owens,

“trying to get into that ‘lose and you go home, win and you go on.’ I wanted to get the girls to really focus, and I think we came out with that attitude. We really set the tone with our defense and jumped on them pretty good.”

Clinton improves to 22-4, while Pender falls to 3-22. The Dark Horses will play Wallace-Rose Hill tonight (Thursday) in the 2nd round at Union High School.

Reach Danny McDowell at [email protected]

By Danny McDowell

Sports Writer

Lady Dark Horse Ashlyn Williams drops in 2 of her game high 19 points versus Pender Tuesday in the opening round of tournament play.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Ashlyn-Williams.jpgLady Dark Horse Ashlyn Williams drops in 2 of her game high 19 points versus Pender Tuesday in the opening round of tournament play.