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School mark is Burton’s

  • Clinton’s Sarah Burton was recognized before the Friday night Halls game at home for breaking the career scoring mark for CHS. She reached 1,681 points the Tuesday before on the road at Clay County during a 28-point effort. Burton broke the record that had been held by her her coach, Alicia Phillips (left). - Ken Leinart

  • Clinton’s Baily Burroughs scored 11 points for the Lady Dragons against Halls Friday. - Ken Leinart

The Clinton Lady Dragons had a tough start to the week as they fell 64-46 on the road to a very talented Clay County squad.

The bright spot for the Lady Dragons was the 28-point performance by Sarah Burton, who broke the career scoring record at Clinton. The record she broke was that of her head coach, Alicia Phillips.

“It’s awesome to hold the record, but when your own player breaks it, I don’t know how many times this has ever happened in the history of basketball when you coach at your old school and hold the record and a player breaks it.” Phillips said. “It’s an incredible thing. I am so proud of her. It’s awesome to be able to hand over that recognition to Sarah.”

Burton set the mark with 1,681 points Tuesday.

Phillips said Clay County is a very fundamentally sound team.

“They’re very old school basketball,” she said. “They didn’t have one standout star. They’re just all very good athletes and very hard to defend. It’s a basketball school and the stands were packed.

“We didn’t play our best basketball,” she said. “We just got Elly Leander back and we’re still down Ally York, who is a phenomenal guard for us.”

Phillips agreed the trip was tough for her team to make in the middle of the week.

“Anytime you have to travel more than 30 minutes for an away game, especially on a weekday night,- that’s a tough trip,” she said.

Burton led the Lady Dragons in scoring.

CHS - Sarah Burton (28), Bailey Burroughs (6), Belle Starnes (5), Ashaunti Davis (4), Elly Leander (3)

The Lady Dragons managed to bounce back with a big 45-34 district win over visiting Halls on Friday night.

“Halls is a very scrappy ball team; they always are,” Phillipps said. “We did not play our best ball. We had a lot of unforced turnovers. We didn’t rebound well. I was very proud we came back at the end of the game, that we came back, got the lead, and held onto it.

“I thought Sarah Burton did a great job of handling the pressure and taking the leadership role,” Phillips said. “I’m definitely proud of the win, especially a district win.”

Burton led all scorers with 27 points. Bailey Burroughs added 11.

The win moved Clinton to 4-3 for the season and 2-0 in district play.

A huge district contest looms Friday night as the Lady Dragons play host to Scott. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

CHS - Sarah Burton (27), Bailey Burroughs (11), Belle Starnes (6), Ashaunti Davis (1)