Nevada jumped out to a 17-6 first quarter lead and it looked like Clinton would be blown out early by a good Tigers team. However, the Cardinals made a strong comeback to trail just 29-24 at halftime and 40-31 after three, only to fall short in the fourth quarter in a 62-42 loss.
Clinton was without the services of perhaps their best player, senior Richie Brown.
Cardinals head coach Andre Steward commented, "He is our everything, but that is not why we lost. We played flat. We made a comeback but lacked energy in the second half. This team, going back to last season, has a tendency to make a run at a good team only to come up short in the end."
He went on to say, "This was one of our worst games of the season. They were more physical than we were. Nevada is a good team and we will see them again in district play."
CLINTON (42): K. Day, 13; J. Wilson, 9; E. Mantonya, 2; R. Lowe, 6; K. Townsend, 6; J. Balke, 6.
NEVADA (62): Valdez, 3; Barnes, 2; Synder, 10; Simmons, 13; Palmer, 2; Collins, 2; Majors, 14; Braden, 2; Miller, 6; Ast, 8.
In the junior varsity contest, Nevada also prevailed with a final of 42-34. The game was tied 19-19 at halftime.
Clinton varsity fell to 10-7 while Nevada jumped to 12-4.
* * *
The Clinton Cardinals boys basketball team suffered their second setback in a row as they traveled to Carl Junction on Friday night and lost, 87-58.
The good news was that Richie Brown returned to the floor for the Cardinals after missing the Nevada game. The bad news was that they ran into an offensive powerhouse in Carl Junction.
It was 18-13 after one but Carl Junction took it to the Cardinals in the second quarter to lead at halftime, 44-24. It was 65-43 after three.
Kaiden Townsend led Clinton with 19. The Cardinals dropped to 10-8 and Carl Junction moved to 14-5
CLINTON (58): Brown, 8; Day, 8; Wilson, 8; Lowe, 10; Townsend, 19; Balke, 6.
CARL JUNCTION (87): Anderson, 9; Hanks, 2; Shorter, 9; Indicott, 7; B.McAfee, 3; Martin, 10; Pant, 15; W. McAfee, 16; Vediz, 7; Ballard, 2.
