Spartans win fifth straight in gutty team victory over Clinton County

South Warren hosted Clinton County on Tuesday night in a make-up game from the night before as the Bulldogs stepped on the court for the first time in nine days to play against another opponent. It was the first meeting in over four years between the two fourth region schools.

The score fluttered back and forth for a few minutes as the teams felt each other out, and then CCHS guard Brett Gibson got red hot from beyond the arc. He buried four three-pointers in a row and finished the first quarter with 15 points. The Bulldogs led the contest 21-12 after one period of play.

The second quarter was as bizarre as basketball gets, with Clinton County scoring well as South Warren missed high-percentage shots, but then came a truly strange situation as the referees ended up calling a double-foul, but not without over five minutes of discussion between themselves and later both head coaches. Those in attendance supporting both schools were booing the officiating, and as the game went to half, Clinton County coach Todd Messer had a few words for one of the referees. The flow of the game was invisible as a result of the stoppage.

After that near disaster and prior to the intermission, South Warren began to find its offense, outscoring the Bulldogs 14-3 down the stretch to cut a 14 point lead to five at 33-28. Brandon Stacker scored 18 in the half and Mateo Boswell came off the bench to snatch down a quartet of rebounds and swat two Clinton County shots away from the rim. Brett Gibson was held to just one free throw in the second quarter.

While the second half was still full of random whistles, South Warren fell behind by 11 but would tie the game at 41, before surrendering the final five points of the third of the quarter to trail 46-41. The Spartans, led offensively by Dayton Gumm, who scored 15 in the second half, and defensively by both Dylan Beckham and Chandler Stephanski, fought to take a 52-51 lead. They would never trail again, and would gut out a 60-53 victory.

For South Warren, it was the team’s fifth win in a row. The team sits at 13-13 going into the final regular season game of the year against Daviess County on Thursday night. Bluegrass Cellular STBN Player of the Game went to the entire Spartan team, as Stacker dominated the first half, Gumm controlled the second, and both Beckham and Stephanski were huge throughout as steadying influences defensively. Clinton County’s Brett Gibson finished with 27 points to lead all scorers.