ELIZABETHTOWN — Mikayla Boykin scorched the nets for 50 points Friday to lead the visiting Lady Dark Horses of Clinton past East Bladen, 77-32, in a Four County Conference matchup.
The loss snaps the lady Eagles’ seven-game win streak and drops them to 7-2 overall, 1-1 in the conference.
Two baskets by Shardajah Brown early in the game kept East Bladen in the game at 6-4, but Clinton went on a 10-1 run to open a 16-5 lead before a free throw by Patience Ward stopped the bleeding. It didn’t stop it long, however, as the Lady Dark Horses canned two straight three-pointers to finish the first quarter with a 22-6 advantage.
Clinton opened the second stanza with a pair of three-pointers before Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson canned a trio of free throws. But the Lady Dark Horses went on a 11-0 burst to extend the lead to 39-9. Ashley Hardin buried a three-pointer and Brown added a basket to cut the deficit to 39-14 before Clinton ended the half with a bucket to take a 41-14 lead into halftime.
Boykin finished with 29 points in the half.
Brown opened the second half with a three-pointer and Emily Scott added a free throw for East Bladen before Clinton went on a 9-0 spurt to take a 50-18 lead. Moore-Peterson and Scott each hit buckets on either side of a Boykin three-pointer, but the Lady Dark Horses widened the lead with an 8-0 run before Moore-Peterson canned a three-pointer and a free throw. Clinton hit two free throws to end the third quarter with a 63-26 lead.
Brown nailed a three-pointer to open the fourth frame, but Clinton answered with a 9-0 burst highlighted by Boykin’s sixth three-pointer of the game for a 72-29 edge. Lorna Mendell canned a free throw and a basket for the Lady Eagles, but Clinton finished the game with two free throws and a bucket.
East Bladen coach Patty Evers was less than pleased by the fact that Boykin was left in the game right to the end.
“Our lesson in the locker room tonight was values, character, morals — how you treat people in life and sports,” she said. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Clinton’s press didn’t seem to bother East Bladen, but it’s half-court defense helped lead to 27 Lady Eagles turnovers. The Lady Dark Horses committed just eight turnovers.
Brown led East Bladen with 12 points and added six rebounds, while Moore-Peterson scored nine points and had four assists. Scott contributed 11 rebounds for the Lady Eagles.
***
Eagles fall to 0-7
***
Visiting Clinton managed to stay a step ahead of East Bladen throughout Friday’s Four County Conference clash and went home 57-46 winners.
The loss drops the Eagles to 0-7 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
After a Demerius McArthur free throw to open the game for East Bladen, the Dark Horses went on a 8-0 run. Eian Hines stopped the spurt with a basket but a technical foul on East Bladen coach Kenzil McCall got those points back for the visitors. East Bladen finished the first quarter on a 7-5 run on baskets by Demetrius Wooten and Adonis Avery, along with free throws from Hines and Xavier Wooten, but Clinton held a 15-10 edge.
The two teams went back and forth through the second stanza, with the Eagles getting a basket by Denzel Johnson and Avery, along with a three-pointer from Johnson to keep the gap at 20-17. But Clinton finished the half on an 8-3 spurt to take a 28-20 lead into halftime.
East Bladen opened the second half with a 6-2 spurt behind a three-pointer by Avery, but the Dark Horses fought back to finish the third quarter with an 8-4 run to take a 38-30 advantage into the fourth frame.
Clinton all but sealed the game with a 10-5 run to start the quarter, but East Bladen battled back to within 50-40 on a bucket by Hines and an old-fashioned three-point play by Demetrius Wooten. The Dark Horses, however, never let the Eagles get closer.
“We’re still working on chemistry and rotations,” McCall said. “Getting Ethan (Hines, who has been injured since football) into the lineup will change this team because he’s a difference maker — and we hope he can be with us after the break. But we also need one or two others to step up.
“The defense played well at times,”he added.
Avery led East Bladen with 15 points, while Johnson added 12 points. Hines had nine rebounds to lead the Eagles.
W. Curt Vincent can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.