Clinton beats Sand Creek, follows with 65-55 non-conference win over Tecumseh

Sand Creek’s Aggies were penned in tight on the hardwood court of Clinton High School. The Redskins corralled the Aggies for a 67-38 Tri-County Conference victory.Clinton remained undefeated (4-0) in the conference with the win. The Redskins improved their record to 6-2 overall on Tuesday with a 65-55 win against visiting Southeastern Conference member Tecumseh.“What a game!” Clinton coach Mike Ruhl said of the Tecumseh contest. “We are dialed in right now [4 game win streak]. We are playing extremely well and feeding off each other. We need to continue what we’re doing with a huge TCC showdown versus Madison on Friday.”The score was tied 16-16 at the end of the first quarter, and 29-29 at the end of the first half. Clinton led by five points going into the fourth quarter and Ruhl said the Redskins relied on tough interior defense and strong rebounding to secure the win.Ryon Luzier scored 21 points for Clinton while Jared Sackett added 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Ryan Karapas scored 18 points and had seven rebounds for the Redskins.Tom Mammel led Tecumseh with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.Against Sand Creek, the opening period closed with the teams tied 10-10. The Redskins’ defense created scoring opportunities in the second quarter by forcing turnovers and helped Clinton finish the first half with a huge 32-15 advantage.Clinton’s offense was led by Jared Sackett with 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds.Ryan Karapas added 12 points for the Redskins; Ryon Luzier, 11 points and four rebounds; Collin Poore, seven points and three assists; Noah Poore (6 rebounds), Kaden Kelly (5 rebounds) and Tyler Underwood six points each; and Blake Rogers, two points.Clinton recorded a 60-54 home win over the Whiteford Bobcats on Tuesday, Jan. 13. The Redskins took a 22-11 lead after the first quarter and, while the Bobcats outscored Clinton 14-10 in the second quarter, finished the first half leading 33-25.“Two things created what ended up a dogfight tonight — a lack of help defense and a lack of rebounding on the weak side,” said Ruhl. “If we do those two things, the outcome would have been quite different. On the positive side, our bench sure came through with some steady play in the second half when we were struggling.”Whiteford cut deeper into the Redskins lead in the third quarter, outscoring Clinton 14-10 to head into the final quarter down by only four points (43-39).Clinton won out in the final quarter, securing the victory by outscoring the Bobcats 17-15.Karapas led Clinton’s offense with 24 points. Clinton’s Luzier added 13 points and three blocked shots; Poore, 12 points; Sackett, five points, seven assists and five rebounds; Poore, three points and five rebounds; Ryan Schanz, two points; Underwood, one point; and Kelly, four rebounds.