The Clinton Dark Horses entered into hostile territory on Thursday night, making the short trip over to Roseboro for a basketball matchup against the Lakewood Leopards. The contest was lopsided to say the least as Clinton was much too powerful for the Leopards as the Dark Horses routed Lakewood, 68-21.
A ten point lead for Clinton after the first quarter would only be the start of the Dark Horses defensive spectacle. During the first quarter, Clinton held Lakewood to only four points in taking a 14-4 lead after the first period.
While both teams played good defense, Clinton’s was much superior, but neither team scored for the first four minutes of quarter number two. A pair of Clinton free throws unthawed the scoring freeze and the Dark Horses would sport a 22-9 advantage over Lakewood as both teams headed to the locker room.
While Lakewood couldn’t get anything going offensively, Clinton found their stroke coming out of the break. Lakewood’s 13-point deficit to begin the second half would seem meager compared to their 31-point deficit to end the third quarter. Clinton outscored the Leopards 23-5 in the third quarter as the Dark Horses headed to the fourth quarter with a huge 45-14 lead. Their big advantage only swelled in the fourth quarter where the Clinton completely laid into Lakewood, winning 68-21.
“We are getting better”, was how Ron Davis, head coach for the Dark Horses, described their 47-point thrashing of Lakewood. “Our guys did a nice job at getting deflections and steals, leading to easier baskets. I’m very proud of how hard these young men are working to get better,” Davis concluded.
Brandon Powell, head coach for Lakewood diagnosed his teams problems like this: “We have got to figure out ways to finish games. The last two home games we’ve played a relatively decent first half, but only to come out flat in the third quarter.” “That falls on me as a coach, figuring out what makes these guys tick,” Powell concluded.
Leading scorers for the Dark Horses were Cameron Lawson with 15 points and Peter Darden with 12. Jalen Owens was not far behind with seven.
Scoring leaders for Lakewood wasn’t immediately available.
With the loss, the Leopards are now 0-4 overall. They were back in action on Friday night, facing off against rival James Kenan at home.
Clinton, with the win, was at 4-1 overall. They, too, were at home on Friday, hosting Fike.
A full rundown from both games can be found in Tuesday’s edition.
