Clinton splits doubleheader; LA sweeps

The Clinton Red Devils’ varsity basketball teams split a home doubleheader Friday night, while the Laurens Academy Crusaders took home a pair of victories on the road.

Clinton’s girls, playing without both De’Shanti Watts and Serenity Baker, could not find its offense in the second half as Woodruff sent the Red Devils to their second straight loss, 40-27. Clinton is now 14-3 overall, 2-3 in Region 3-3A.

Clinton was tied at 15-all late in the first half after a 3-point shot from Savanna Campbell, but from there Woodruff held the Red Devils to two field goals over a span of more than 10 minutes.

Terriauna Bennett led Clinton with 12 points.

Clinton’s boys, meanwhile, picked up a hard-fought victory over Woodruff, 49-48, after a 3-point shot from nearly full-court hit the front of the net, coming up just short of what would’ve been a stunning loss.

Clinton led the game 42-27 with about a minute to go in the third quarter before Woodruff stormed back and tied the game at 48-all in the final minute. Amari Bates, who had 13 points, hit the eventual winning free throw with 25.6 seconds left.

J.D. Payne led Clinton with 16 points.

LA: Laurens Academy’s girls routed Greenwood Christian Friday, 42-10. Blair Quarles scored 16 points to lead all scorers, while Ruthie Moore added 15.

LA’s boys also picked up a road victory, 52-40, over Greenwood Christian. The Crusaders got 18 points from Charlton McCall and 15 point from Dawson Foster to lead the way.

Laurens: The Laurens boys’ basketball team pushed Westside to overtime in Anderson, but came up on the short end of a 59-55 loss to the Rams.

The girls, meanwhile, lost 59-51 in their game to the Rams. Qua Fortson had 21 points for Laurens, which trailed by four points after three quarters before Westside pulled away in the fourth.