Preview: Clinton Prairie Gophers vs. Clinton Central Bulldogs
Clinton Prairie is 9-1 against Clinton Central since January of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Clinton Prairie Gophers will be home for the holidays to greet the Clinton Central Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Clinton Prairie has struggled recently with four losses in a row, while Clinton Central will arrive with six straight victories.
Clinton Prairie's 16-8 record from last season is now well into the rear view mirror after another tough outing. They were beaten by Western 70-30 on Wednesday. While losing is never fun, Clinton Prairie can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 323rd, while Western is ranked 21st).
Despite the defeat, Clinton Prairie saw an underclassman step up: Taylor Morgan scored 15 points. That's the first time this season that Morgan scored 15 or more points.
Clinton Central has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won ten contests by 22 points or more this season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Tri-Central 61-26 at home. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 39-12.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Clinton Central to victory, but perhaps none more so than Sara Parkison, who scored 23 points along with seven rebounds. That makes it six consecutive games in which Parkison has scored at least 25% of Clinton Central's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Emily Long, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds.
Clinton Prairie bumped their record down to 2-9 with that loss, which was their fifth straight on the road. As for Clinton Central, their victory bumped their record up to 11-1.
Tuesday's contest is shaping up to be a scrappy matchup: Clinton Prairie have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 26.2 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Clinton Central, though, as they've been averaging only 28.4 rebounds per game. Given Clinton Prairie's sizeable advantage in that area, Clinton Central will need to find a way to close that gap.
Clinton Prairie couldn't quite finish off Clinton Central in their previous meeting back in December of 2022 and fell 45-43. Will Clinton Prairie have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other basketball content.
