The Clinton Lady Cardinals are in fairly unchartered waters and are treading furiously after they dropped their fourth game in a row on Monday night, this time to the Smith-Cotton Lady Tigers, 45-39.
After rattling off eight straight wins from mid-December to the end of January, the Lady Cardinals have now lost four straight to Smith-Cotton, Eldorado Springs, Pleasant Hill and that same Smith-Cotton squad.
On Monday, Smith-Cotton controlled an eery tempo and the Lady Cardinals struggled to find their rhythm on the offensive end of the floor.
Clinton trailed 11-10 at the end of the first and then 18-15 at the break.
Smith-Cotton used a narrow 13-10 margin to increase their lead to 31-25 with three quarters in the books and then a knot at 14 in the fourth led to the Lady Cardinals 45-39 loss.
Ava Potter led Clinton with 13 points while Briley Wishard finished closely behind her with 12.
CLINTON (39): A. Little, 0; V. Brown, 6; L. Kenney, 0; K. Schaffer, 0; A. Dutcher, 0; C. Berry, 0; S. Wilson, 5; A. Goucher, 3; A. Potter, 13; L. Brauer, 0; B. Wishard, 12.
SMITH-COTTON (45): Sebastian, 0; Cavanaugh, 9; Lamar, 1; Spellmeyer, 0; Hieronymus, 2; Jackson, 2; Birdsong, 0; Bell, 9; Kensinger, 0; Bellamy, 18; Burlingame, 3.
* * *
Last Tuesday night the Lady Cardinals face the (then) number one team in the state in Class 3 when they were on the road at Eldorado Springs.
After a rough start put Clinton in a 29-6 deficit at the half, the Lady Cardinals finally gained some footing in the second half of play.
A 17-15 margin for Clinton in the third made it 44-23 but a 15-8 advantage in the fourth made things a little more respectable as the Lady Cardinals absorbed the 52-38 final against the defending runner-ups in Class 3.
Skyte Wilson adn Briley Wishard paced the Clinton offense with 13 points apiece.
CLINTON (38): A. Little, 2; V. Brown, 2; L. Kenney, 0; K. Schaffer, 2; A. Dutcher, 0; C. Berry, 0; S. Wilson, 13; A. Goucher, 2; A. Potter, 4; L. Brauer, 0; B. Wishard, 13.
ELDORADO SPRINGS (52): Collins, 3; Steward, 9; Thompson, 0; McCullough, 0; Daniels, 0; Mays, 10; Strauch, 3; Mead, 6; Schaaf, 10; Steward, 4; Schmidtt, 7.
* * *
At Friday night's 2024 Courtwarming, the Lady Cardinals suffered yet another defeat, this time at the hands of Pleasant Hill, 47-41.
It was a slow start that nipped Clinton yet again as they trailed 11-5 after one and then found themselves in a 29-11 hole at halftime.
A 15-15 draw in the third led to a 44-26 deficit and a big 15-3 margin in the fourth made things close, but not close enough, as the Lady Cardinals fell once again, 47-41.
Skyte Wilson was the only Clinton player in double digits with 14.
CLINTON (41): A. LIttle, 4; V. Brown, 9; L. Kenney, 0; K. Schaffer, 0; A. Dutcher, 0; C. Berry, 0; S. Wilson, 14; A. Goucher, 3; A. Potter, 4; L. Brauer, 0; B. Wishad, 7.
PLEASANT HILL (47): A. Ralston, 0; I. Wilson, 6; C. Williams, 0; B. Beck, 0; M. McConville, 0; M. Manford, 10; M. Layton, 11; C. Grey, 20.
* * *
The Lady Cardinals attempted to right the ship when they hosted a 4-12 Center squad on Tuesday night. Those results were obvioulsy not available by Clinton Daily Democrat press time.
Clinton will travel to Oak Grove on Thursday and then Notre Dame de Sion on Monday before returning home on Tuesday night when they host Harrisonville for Senior Night.
The Lady Cardinals are scheduled to wrap-up their regular season on February 20 before entering the Class 4 District 9 tournament.
