Doubled up Devils: Clinton pounds Liberty in opening round
Bryanna Belton (14) goes up for 2 of her 17 points against Liberty’s Reagan Swafford (21) Monday night during Clinton’s first-round playoff win.
In a rare postseason matchup between Red Devils, the Clinton girls basketball team cruised past Liberty 67-29 and into the second round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
Bryanna Belton led four Clinton Red Devils in double figures with 17 points. Nah’shia Wrighg scored 13, Mylayja Thompson scored 12 and McKenzie Clark added 10 for Clinton (22-5).
“We started a little slow, and that may have been some playoff nerves,” said Clinton head coach John Gardener. “We missed some early shots that were there for us, but I told them to keep doing what we were doing.”
As slow starts go, Clinton – ranked No. 2 in Class 2A – will take the 19-point lead it carried into halftime.
The Liberty Red Devils were overmatched from the beginning, shooting just 10 of 34 (29.4%) from the field while Clinton’s defense created 24 Liberty turnovers. Clinton also out-rebounded Liberty 37-24, while shooting just under 50% (26 of 54) from the field.
Natalie White scored 11 points to lead Liberty (5-19).
Clinton advances to the Class 2A Sweet 16 and will host Landrum at 6 p.m. Thursday.
The Cardinals (19-14) defeated American Leadership Academy 54-31 Monday night.
“Landrum is the defending Upper State champion in 2A. Their roster had some turnover from last year, but they’re always fundamentally sound,” Gardener said. “They don’t usually beat themselves. They’ve been doing that year-in and year-out. They’ve been really solid for a long time in Landrum.”
