Clinton’s Garrison Hill gets a breakaway layup.
Daron Barefoot|Sampson Independent
The Clinton Dark Horses returned to the hardwood Monday night, hosting their old rival Wallace-Rose Hill in a non-conference basketball showdown. The match-up was the first, and only, of the season between the two teams. With Clinton entering the contest riding a five-game losing streak, getting back into the win column seemed to be a tall order with the 8-4 ready to pounce. And Wallace proved too strong for the Dark Horses as the visitors claimed victory, 60-49.
From the outset, Wallace-Rose Hill was aggressive on both ends of the court. Their aggression didn’t equate to success, however, as it was Clinton who led early thanks to baskets by Henry Bass and Taylen Moore. Around the halfway mark of the first quarter, the Horses led 6-3, as turnovers and missed shots were hindered by the Bulldogs. The scoring slowed down as the same began to also be true for Clinton. With 3:21 on the clock in the first quarter, the lead was holding steady at 6-3. The long drought was quickly becoming the main story of the first quarter as missed shots were piling up for WRH. They couldn’t get anything to fall, not even free throws. They finally got a layup off a rebound, but down on the other end, Bass countered, making it 8-5 with 2:00 to go. The Bulldogs grabbed the lead right before the end of the quarter but Moore banked in a long-range 3-pointer at the buzzer, putting the score at 11-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Clinton built on their lead at the start of the second quarter, getting consecutive buckets to lead 15-9. After that, the game turned into a track meet as the scoring picked up and the Bulldogs mounted a run. They hit a streak of 13-2 and took a 22-17 lead and forced the Dark Horses to burn a timeout with 3:10 left before halftime. Wallace-Rose Hill continued to surge out of the break as their intensity was at a whole other level. They were active on both ends of the court and were really giving Clinton all kinds of problems. Still, as was the case at the beginning of the game, the Bulldogs were hurling bricks that really prevented them from stretching things out. A made free throw from Anyahs Butler ended the WRH run, but the Bulldogs hit on a 3-point play right before the buzzer and led 31-18 at halftime.
When play picked back up in the third quarter, Wallace-Rose Hill continued to ride their wave of energy. They scored the first five points of the half, pushing their lead to 36-18 to produce another Clinton timeout. Moore finally broke the drought for the Dark Horses, getting a basket in the lane at the 5:02 mark. Bass followed up with another shot in the lane, making the score 36-22 at the 4:30 mark. As the quarter wound down, Clinton caught a little spark and tried to get back into contention. They trimmed the deficit down to 12 points before WRH regrouped and got another basket. At the end of the third quarter, the Bulldogs still led 42-28.
The Dark Horses again caught a little spark in the fourth quarter, gradually inching a little closer. Bass was leading the charge for Clinton and at the 4:05 mark, his layup made it 46-39 as the Dark Horses were closing the gap. Down on the other end, though, the Bulldogs picked up the pace and were trying to hold Clinton at bay. They turned to a full-court defense, looking to slow the Horses down. With 2:53 left, the score was 50-43 with the Dark Horses in possession. Clinton just couldn’t muster anything up to draw any closer than that. Every possession thereafter was shut down and the Dark Horses couldn’t get any closer than seven points. When the final horn sounded, the Bulldogs were headed home with the 60- 49 victory.
Leading scorer for the Dark Horses was Bass with 19. Moore finished with nine points and Butler had seven.
With the loss, Clinton is now 3-17 overall. They were scheduled to be back on the court on Tuesday at West Bladen before returning home against Red Springs on Friday.