Clinton Boys' Basketball is one win away from playing for the Class AAA Upper State Championship.
Local Notes Clinton HS
Clinton 79 – Broome 51… The Red Devil boys’ varsity basketball team hosted the Broome Centurions last night (Feb. 15) in opening round action of the SCHSL Class AAA playoffs… The game was close for about 3.5 minutes as the score stood 5-4 Red Devils with 4:34 left in the first quarter… After that, the Red Devils pulled away like a finely tuned machine as they took a 79-51 win over the Centurions… The Red Devil led 38-25 at the half and then outscored the Centurions 20-8 in the third quarter and continued to pull away in the fourth quarter and believe me the game was not as close as the finial 79-51 score sounds…. Clinton dominated the game in two areas, rebounding and three-point shots… Unofficially the Red Devils had 22 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds to Broome’s 13 defensive rebounds and 3 offensive… As for the three-point shooting, the Red Devils knocked down 14 of them (they made 16 two-pointers) while the Centurions made only 2 three-pointers… Coach Eddie Romines was very pleased with his team’s performance and stated “It was an awesome start to the playoffs! We played some good basketball tonight. Our defense and rebounding were terrific! On offense, we did a great job of sharing the ball and shot the ball very well!”… The Red Devils had three players scoring in double-digits and were led in scoring by Wil Stewart who had a game-high 21 points with 9 of them coming from behind the three-point line… Taliek Fuller scored 15 points (all from behind the 3-point line) and Tushawn Richardson 12 points including one three-pointer… MJ Henderson finished with 9 points (3 three-pointers), Quay Rant 7, Kadon Crawford 4, Devin Swindler 4, Nyterlan Smith 3 and both Ke’lijah Byrd and Tylon Scurry scored 2 points …
Travelers Rest 51 – Clinton 33 – Broome 51… The Red Devil girls’ varsity basketball team traveled up to Travelers Rest to take on the Devildogs last night in opening round action of the SCHSL Class AAA playoffs… The Red Devils scored the first two points of the game with about a minute off the clock, but they did not score again until 4:04 left in the second quarter and by then the Devildogs had a 17-4 lead as Travelers Rest went on to take a 51-33 win over the Red Devils thus eliminating them from the Class AAA playoffs… The Devildogs lead 21-12 at the half and the Red Devils cut the lead to just 6 points early in the third quarter but the Devildogs went on to outscore the Red Devil 14-5 in the quarter to lead 35-17 going into the final quarter of play… To their credit, the Red Devils never stopped fighting as they scored 16 points in the final quarter but every time they put a run together, the Devildogs did the same… Coach John Gardner commented afterwards “Proud of this group and the effort they have put in through adversity.”… The Devildogs were led in scoring by Aleena Hardin who finished with 18 points while the Red Devils were led in scoring by Mylayja Thomson who finished with 17 points 12 of them in the fourth quarter… Others scoring for the Red Devils included Taneal Evans who finished with 6 points, Bryanna Belton 4 and finishing with 2 points each were Symiah Floyd, Mia Barr and Hanna Gary… The Lady Red Devils finish the season with a 13-9 record while Travelers Rest improves to 11-11…
Clinton 64 – Southside 56… The Red Devil boys’ basketball team hosted the Tigers of Southside HS Friday night in second-round action of the SCHSL Class AAA playoffs… The Tigers earlier in the season took a 53-51 win over the Red Devils handing them one of their five losses of the season… Well the Red Devils got their revenge when it would count the most as last Friday they defeated the Tigers 64-56… The game was back and forth in the first quarter and the Tigers led by two points (13-11) at the end of the first quarter and also at the half (27-25)… The Red Devils came out of the locker room hot and in the third quarter outscored the Tigers 13-5 to take a 38-32 lead going into the final 8 minutes of play… The Tigers did not stop fighting and clawed their way back to take a 48-47 lead with 3:45 left to ho in the game… The Red Devils then scored 9 unanswered points and never trailed again… The Tigers were forced to foul and the Red Devils made 13 of 17 free throws in the final quarter to ensure the win… Afterwards Coach Eddie Romines commented “Great win against a tough opponent! We were really challenged tonight but we proved to be up to the challenge. Close games usually come down to defense, rebounding and free throws.”… The Tigers were led in scoring by George Crossman who finished with a game-high 26 points while the Red Devils were led by Tushawn Richardson’s 18 points… The Red Devils had two other players scoring in double-digits as Wil Stewart finished with 15 points and Devin Swindler 10… Kaydon Crawford scored 9 points, Taliek Fuller 6 and Quay Rant 5… The Red Devils are now 18-5 on the season.
Clinton host Travelers Rest TONIGHT (7 pm); the winner plays the winner of Daniel-Wren (home) in the Upper State Championship game on Saturday.
-WLBG Mike Hughes Sports Report
WRESTLING
The Clinton Red Devil High School Wrestling Team made a good showing at The South Carolina High School League Upper State Wrestling Championships Saturday. The team took 5th place in the Upper State. Four wrestlers qualified for the State Championships which will be held in Anderson on February 24 & 25. Qualifying wrestlers are:
132 pound junior Blake Greenwood who placed 2nd, 160 pound senior George Cody who is the Upper State Champion, 182 pound junior Joe Carles who placed 3rd & 220 pound sophomore Rion Gordon who finished 4th.
The Red Devil Wrestling team is in its first full year competing as a full team. The only senior on the team, George Cody is making his second trip to the SCHSL State Championships. Clinton qualified 11 wrestlers to the Upper State Championships. The future looks bright for these grapplers.
Honors
CHS Boys Basketball: Eddie Romines is the Region Coach of the Year.
Taliek Fuller, Region 4 Player of the Year and 3A All-State Team. All-Region: Wil Stewart, senior; Taliek Fuller, senior; and Tushawan Richardson, sophomore.
CHS Girls Basketball: All-Region: Mylayja Thompson, freshman; Bryanna Belton, sophomore.
Class AAA Boys Basketball Playoffs bracket here.
