The Laurens Raiders made it back-to-back wins against their cross-county rivals with a 67-54 victory over the Clinton Red Devils on Tuesday night at CHS.

Clinton made a valiant effort to not allow the Raiders to run away with the second game after falling by 35 on Friday at LDHS. Although the Red Devils were down twenty in the third quarter, they managed to cut the lead to nine with just over two minutes left in the game but could get no closer.  

Laurens was up ten in the first game before the Red Devils got off the bus, this time Clinton kept it close, trailing 16-12 after the first quarter. The Raiders took control in the second quarter outscoring Clinton 20-7 to extend its advantage to 36-19 at the half.

“It was a good cross county rivalry. It was a good hard fought game with a lot of fouls due to the enthusiasm,” Laurens Coach Mark Freeze assessed the game. “Our deep bench may have been the difference in the second quarter when they came in and extended our lead.”

Laurens went up by 20 at one point in the third quarter. Clinton cut into the lead to get to within ten at 50-40 with 4:55 to go. The Red Devils finally cut it to single digits with 2:21 to go when Jerome Wimphrie hit two free throws. They would get no closer and the Raiders took control at the foul line to extend their final advantage to 67-54.

“We played well at times. The second quarter killed us,” Clinton Coach Todd Frazier commented. “They took the ball to the hole tonight and shot more free throws because of it. We need to work to do that too.”

Laurens hosts Union County on Friday night. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30pm.

Clinton will host Greenwood on Wednesday night. Tip off is at 7:30pm.

LAURENS

CLINTON