By Brad Seward

For the Herald

CLINTON — The Clinton River Kings used the momentum from an 11-2 run to start the third quarter to roll past the Fulton Steamers 56-36 in the opening round of the River City Classic boys basketball tournament Friday night at Yourd Gym.

“In the second half we got a tendency to get away from our offense and turnovers started to occur and Clinton got their spurt,” Fulton Coach Rick Norman said.

The third-quarter run for the River Kings started innocently as Jake Mangler knocked in three free throws in the first minute of play. However, Clinton took advantage of Fulton’s turnovers and converted them into points. The River Kings got buckets from Dylan Burn, David Johnson and Wade Klooster to build the lead to 31-20. That trio would each record a pair of scores for Clinton in the period to contribute to a 40-26 bulge at the end of the third stanza.

“I thought we struggled offensively tonight, but defense really played solid the whole game,” Clinton Coach Bob Walker said.

Clinton’s continued defensive pressure helped the Kings’ offense build the lead to 20 points in the final period. Johnson scored six of his game-leading 16 points in the period, including a thunderous, two-handed dunk in the final moments to cap the win for Clinton. The Clinton forward also led the team in rebounds with 12.

Burn was the only other River King with double-digit scoring with 13. The senior guard also dished out three assists and had two blocked shots. Maurice Walker also chipped in with nine points

Both teams struggled to get into a flow offensively early on in the game. Clinton had problems scoring but was able to disrupt Fulton’s offense behind six steals and blocked shots in the first period. The quarter ended with the clubs tied at seven.

“We missed some free throws early; we even missed some bunnies early where we had some good looks,” coach Walker said. “But like we told the players from the first day of practice, defense will keep us in ballgames and so far we have played seven good quarters of defense.”

Clinton’s defense wrapped up the night with 11 steals and seven blocks.

Sophomore Eric Renkes led Fulton in scoring with 11 points. Seven of the guard’s points came in the second half.

“He (Renkes) is showing a lot of leadership on the floor as a sophomore, and I’m very impressed with that,” Norman said. “It’s the attitude he puts forth on the floor.”

Tyler Renkes and Ashton Hutton both scored eight points in the Fulton loss.

Fulton will battle Prince of Peace in the consolation game at 5 p.m. today.

“Prince of Peace has a very quality ball club,” Norman said. “(Sean) Mulholland and the Nelson boys (James and John) make a solid core, and the rest of the team fits right in with them.”

Clinton will tangle with Camanche in the championship tilt.

“They’ve got two very good players in Codie Adams and Taylor Roth and hopefully we can defend them and do what we do,” Walker said. “We need to worry about than what they do.”



CLINTON 56, FULTON 36

FULTON (0-5) — Tyler Beiermann 2 0-0 4, Alex wherry 1 0-0 2, Joe Tomman 0 0-2 0, Eric Renkes 2 6-8 11, Brian Zahnle 1 0-0 2, Nate Fish 0 0-0 0, Ashton Hutton 4 0-0 8, Tyler Renkes 3 1-2, Brandon Dierks 0 0-0 0, Matt Iburg 0 0-0 0, Konnor Leffler 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 8-14 36.

CLINTON (1-1) — Evan Kenney 0 0-0 0, Dylan Burn 6 0-1 13, Jake Mangler 1 4-6 7, Maurice Walker 4 1-2 9, Tyler Morehead 0 0-0 0, David Johnson 8 0-5 16, Brendon Roggendorf 0 0-0 0, Joe Cotton 0-0 0-0 0, Wade Klooster 3 0-0 6, Patrick Hess 1 1-2 3, Blake Pennock 1 0-0 2, Andrew Temperly 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 6-16 56.

Fulton 7 11 8 19 — 36

Clinton 7 15 18 16 — 56

3-point goals — E. Renkes, T. Renkes, Burn, Mangler. Total fouls — Fulton 14. Clinton 18.