Clinton escapes Lakewood on court

Fireworks erupted on Friday when the Lakewood Leopards hosted the Clinton Dark Horses. It was Clinton’s first game on the court and the Leopards were relentess in their assault. The Dark Horses came away with the win by a thin margin in the season opener, 52-49.

The game kicked off and the Horses bum rushed ahead taking eight points before Lakewood would get on the board. From here it became an intense affair with both team fighting for every point. Fouls became an issue on the Leopards play and Clinton took advantage of the easy points at the charity line. This turned the tempo down for a spell before the explosions kicked off again. The physical game persisted through the first half with penalty of action and hard tumbles on the court. Lakewood trailed with the Horses keeping the Leopards caged up, 27-21.

The Horses managed to extend the lead after the Leopards struggled to pull it together for a bit. A slew of missed opportunities and a disconnect between the players allowed Clinton to gain a 10 point advantage. Lakewood continued to battle and wouldn’t relent. The physical play grew in intensity with the clock slowing ticking down and the Leopards were needing to get back into the contest. Clinton’s shots from beyond the perimeter took a nose dive resulting in more trips into paint. This led to a collision of wills as the two rivals battled it out.

The fourth quarter saw the exciting climax to this electric contest on the court. Trailing by seven, the Leopards went on a spree and rushed back into contention with the Horses. Bodies continued to hit the court as the game progressed further. With less than five left and three points separating the teams, a big dash for the loose ball turned into a bit of pushing and chirping between two players, igniting the determination to close the door on one another.

Clinton escaped by three over the Leopards, 52-49. Coach Brandon Powell of Lakewood and Coach James Farrior of Clinton both were happy with the game as their teams never lost sight of the goal, to win.

“I was extremely proud of my guys tonight. They played tough and fought every play down to the last possession. We went down by double digits a few times and they never gave up.” Coach Powell told the Independent.

He touched on the penalties and game stopping whistles and commented about the errors that need to be fixed on their end.

“As far as the penalties, inadvertent whistles, game play stoppage, etc is concerned I teach my guys to control what they can control. We have to improve our free throw shooting. We have to be on the floor for every loose ball. We have to reduce our number of unforced turnovers. Those are things we can control.”

Coach Farrior repeated similar sentiments and touched on the unique challenge of coming in cold with few practices after a long football season.

“I’m proud of my young men for being able to finish the game. I knew going in we were gonna have ups and downs, this is our first game coming off a great football season. We had two and half days of practice after tryouts. I knew their legs would have a lot of fatigue and shot rhythm would be off. I think the fact it was a rivalry game helped us. The crowd gave a lot of passion to the kids and allowed them to finish. We had a little drama near the end and that’s to be expected in a rivalry. Both sides played with a lot of passion and know each other.”

Ny’Darion Blackwell chimed in on the game and had something to say regarding the intensity and the rivalry.

“It was a heated game we had a good lead to start and kinda let up , this is my first game back and I was facing some injuries but I played through them and i had lost my cool for a minute but through the strength of my team I calm down and got back to play like me. I mean we always had some type of beef with Lakewood but we don’t really take it seriously but it was just kinda one of them games you gotta win for you school bragging rights.”

Walker Spell took a couple of big tumbles trying to evade the Leopards. He touched on the physicality of the contest and the drama.

“Physicality is always a good thing but we got to relax more on the ball and off the ball and run our plays and also play the pace we practice. Lakewood and Clinton has always been a rivalry game because both schools are in Sampson county and not far down the road. We know them and they know us that’s why a lot of people show out when we play Lakewood. I like the tension of the drama it makes the games more exciting and fun. We beat them on their home court and they are gonna want to beat us on our home court next time.”

These two teams will show out again next month on Jan. 15 where the Leopards will travel to Clinton in an attempt to avenge the nail biting loss from this one. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.