Clinton Central is 1-9 against Clinton Prairie since January of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Clinton Central Bulldogs will head out on the road to face off against the Clinton Prairie Gophers at 7:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Clinton Central has six straight wins, Clinton Prairie has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
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 breezed by Tri-Central at home to the tune of 61-26. Given Clinton Central's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 72nd, while Tri-Central is ranked 264th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Clinton Central's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Sara Parkison led the charge by scoring 23 points along with seven rebounds. The matchup was Parkison's sixth in a row with at least ten points. Emily Long was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Clinton Prairie struggled with assists on Wednesday (Western had 11 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Clinton Prairie took a serious blow against Western, falling 70-30.
Despite the defeat, Clinton Prairie saw an underclassman step up: Taylor Morgan scored 15 points. Those 15 points set a new season-high mark for her.
Clinton Central pushed their record up to 11-1 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.8 points per game. As for Clinton Prairie, they have been struggling recently, as they've lost six of their last seven matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-9 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Clinton Central have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 28.4 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Clinton Prairie, though, as they've been averaging only 26.2 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Clinton Central skirted past Clinton Prairie 45-43 in their previous meeting back in December of 2022. The rematch might be a little tougher for Clinton Central since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
