CLINTON — With the New Year came no sun, rain and just a dreary feeling.  

This carried over to the opening game of the year for the Clinton Junior High Maroons boys’ basketball team.  

Their first opponent of the year was the Corpus Christi Saints from Bloomington, and they had come to play.  The writing was on the wall for the home teams from the jump ball of the 7th grade game.  

The Saints went on a 14-point tear before the Maroons were able to score their first points,  with the opposition up by 13 at the end of the first quarter.  The Maroons scored only 6 points in the first quarter, 2 in the 2nd, 8 in the third (all by Nick Feather),and 1 point in the final quarter.  

The Saints took the win 51-17.  

Nick Feather was the bright spot for the Maroons with 10 points scored in the second and third quarters.

The 8th grade Maroons were able to keep their bout with the Saints a little closer in points but were also facing an almost insurmountable task.  There was only a four-point difference at the end of the first quarter, but the Saints lead kept growing with the completion of each quarter.  

Clinton was down by 9 at halftime and by 18 at the end of the 3rd.  The fourth quarter saw a spurt from the Maroons to cut into the lead, however, the Saints held for a 34-18 win.  

Trevor Scott and Seth Varble were the 8th grade leaders with 6 points each and there were 5 different players who were able to score for the team.