CEDAR RAPIDS —
Cedar Rapids Jefferson outscored Clinton 15-6 in the first quarter and went on to a 62-41 victory Tuesday in the season opener for both teams.
“We got off to a slow start,” Clinton coach Nick Lawrence said. “They came out and trapped the wings, pressured us in the halfcourt. They switched defenses a lot. We had 26 turnovers. When you turn the ball over that much and struggle shooting, it’s a bad combination.”
Things got better from there for the River Kings, who played Jefferson closer in each progressive quarter.
“After we got over the initial hump, we played pretty even with them,” Lawrence said. “We had some spurts where we did some things really well. We had too much inconsistency and that’s something we need to work on.”
Sophomore Brady Ernst was a bright spot for Clinton, getting a double-double by scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
“Brady played really solid all across the board,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence praised the fight of his kids and pointed out that added depth — Clinton played 13 players — would be key this season.
“The kids never quit,” he said. “We have a lot of kids without a lot of experience and they were a little flustered. We had some first-game jitters. We need to just relax and play.”
The coach said they were going to turn things around and make positive strides, hopefully before the River City Classic, which begins Friday.
“We have a lot to work on defensively,” Lawrence said. “We had some breakdowns that we can easily correct. We’ll look at the film and point some things out to the kids — like our spacing on the floor and how to defend better as a team.”
CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 62, CLINTON 41
CLINTON (0-1) — Jalen Jones 4 2-2 10, Jacob Judd 2 1-1 5, Tyler Thacker 1 0-0 3, Brady Ernst 5 0-0 11, Javontez Washington 2 0-0 6, Jon Cady 1 0-0 2, Justin Michel 1 0-0 2, Rodney Witherspoon 1 0-0 2, Ashley Jones 0 0-2 0, Ben Rowan 0 0-0 0, Robbie Thacker 0 0-0 0, Thomas Smith 0 0-0 0, Austin Reyhons 0 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 3-5 41.
Clinton 6 10 13 12 — 41
Jefferson 15 16 18 13 — 62
3-point goals — Clinton 4 (Washington 2, Ernst, T. Thacker).
Sports
November 28, 2012
River Kings fall in opener
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