Red Devils bound for Final 4, to face Shamrocks
Clinton center Kemaria Shelton (10) reaches for an offensive rebound during the Red Devils’ playoff win over Fairfield Central Tuesday night.
The Clinton girls basketball team made it to the Final Four for the first time in 13 years Tuesday night with a come-from-behind victory over visiting Fairfield Central.
Senior Bryanna Belton scored 14 points, and the Red Devils dominated the fourth quarter to come away with a 40-30 victory in the state quarterfinals.
Clinton advances to the Class 2A Final Four where they will face Eau Claire for the third time this season. The two teams finished 1-2 in Region 3-2A and will now compete for the Upper State championship at 6 p.m. Tuesday at The Florence Center.
All four remaining teams in the Upper State bracket were from Region 3-2A. Eau Claire defeated Mid-Carolina, 54-43.
“Now we have to beat another team for a third time,” said Clinton head coach John Gardner. “I told the team we would probably have to do that.”
The Red Devils (23-5) defeated the Griffins 39-18 on Feb. 13 and 40-23 on Jan. 28.
But Fairfield Central appeared determined early on to not go quietly into the offseason.
After a slow offensive start by both teams, the Griffins (11-12) scored the last five points of the second quarter to take a 15-13 lead. That 5-0 run gave Fairfield Central its first lead of the game.
“I yelled pretty good at halftime,” Gardner said. “We weren’t attacking them on the offensive glass. We weren’t being strong around the rim., and it showed in the first half.
“So, I challenged them to get downhill, challenged the post players to get down there and get those rebounds, and in the second half they did that on the offensive and defensive ends.”
Challenge accepted.
The Red Devils out-rebounded Fairfield Central 39-25 for the game.
Bryanna Belton’s field goal from the block put Clinton ahead 19-18 with 4:20 left in the third quarter, and the Red Devils never trailed again.
Clinton’s Bryanna Belton (14) drives the baseline against Fairfield Central Tuesday night.
After taking a 25-22 lead into the final period. Clinton went on a 14-2 runover the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.
Belton scored 8 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, while the Red Devils defense held Fairfield Central without a field goal until Jazz McMillan hit a runner in the lane with 1:51 to play.
By that time, the Red Devils had a commanding 39-24 lead.
McMillan scored a game-high 17 points, but no other Griffin player scored more than 6. Jordyn Adams, who scored 41 in the Griffins’ Sweet 16 win over Cheraw, was held to 2 points.
McKenzie Clark and Ry’Dayja Mars added 9 points each for the Red Devils.
Clinton also defeated Eau Claire (17-8) twice during the regular season. The two teams played on back-to-back nights Feb. 6-7. The Red Devils won the first meeting at home 36-28 and edged the Shamrocks in Columbia 34-31.
“We made some good plays and some good passes around the rim,” Gardner said of Tuesday night’s victory. “It’s hard to beat a team three times.”
