It took Clinton until the final quarter of its Friday, Feb. 12, winter homecoming contest to break away from visiting Madison and record a 53-45 victory.

The Redskins went into the final quarter carrying a three point, 31-28, lead and were able to put the game away with a 13-for-18 performance at the free throw line in the final stanza.

The victory placed the Redskins in the number one spot in the Tri-County conference. Clinton (11-4) improved its conference record to 9-1 with the victory while the Trojans (10-5) dropped to 7-3.

While the Redskins pushed a fast offensive pace in the contest the Trojans slowed the game down on each of their possessions and finished the first quarter with a 13-11 advantage.

By the end of the second quarter the Redskins switched things around to take a three-point, 21-18, lead into the halftime festivities.

During the halftime break, Clinton’s Henry Kokenakes was crowned the winter homecoming king while Kelsea Karapas was selected as the school’s queen.

The halftime break had the Redskins pumped up on their return to the court in the third quarter. However, Madison was able to hold Clinton to a three-point (31-28) lead going into the final quarter.

Nic Greenwood scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help Clinton secure the win. The 6’6” senior hit the first netter of the fourth but Madison kept it a three-point game with a bucket of its own soon after. Greenwood again pushed Clinton’s lead to five points with 5:37 on the clock but moments later Jamison Webster tagged another netter. Rick Smith tagged two from the free throw line for another five-point Clinton lead but a three-point shot by Webster with 4:49 remaining nullified Clinton’s momentum. Both teams had five fouls each and the Trojans were now down by just one basket (37-35). A missed shot by Madison’s Zach Brewer and a missed putback by Chris Ray allowed Clinton’s Nate Dreslinski to rush the net and pick up a foul. He hit both shots and the Redskins were off and running again.

A three-point shot by Madison’s Nick Amador missed the basket and after hauling in a half court pass, Greenwood hit nothing but net on a shot from the outside to put the ‘skins up 42-35 with 2:47 on the ticker.

Dustin Evans fouled out and sent Greenwood to the free throw line where he tagged both to put Clinton up by nine (44-35). Clinton increased its lead to 13 points with Smith grabbing a missed free throw and putting the ball in the net for a 48-35 lead with 1:29 remaining.

Webster then scored seven points to Clinton’s one in just under 30 seconds to keep the Trojans in the game. Rylie Robinson hit the net from the free throw line to set the score at 50-42 but Madison’s Ryan Zyla popped in a three-pointer to make it 50-45. That was it for the Trojans while Greenwood went on to score three more points from the free throw line to finish all scoring.

Greenwood added 10 rebounds and four blocked shots to his 24-point total.  Smith finished the contest with 12 points and five rebounds while Thomas Barkel had six points and four rebounds. Dreslinski also added six points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Hayden Craig added four points for Clinton while Rylie Robinson finished with a point and six assists.

Madison was led by Webster with 23 points.