Clinton scores 1,000th career point; Mustangs fall to rival Whiteoak

MOWRYSTOWN — It was a milestone evening for the career accomplishments of Lynchburg-Clay senior Denver Clinton, as he made the first shot of the game to achieve his 1,000th career point. 

On the other side of the rivalry game played Tuesday at Whiteoak High School was the host Wildcats celebrating a feat of their own, as they were the winners of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference game, defeating the visiting Mustangs, 52-44 at WHS. 

The gym was packed to the top of the bleachers, and standing room was nonexistent as the two teams tipped off on the Jan. 6 evening inside a hot and congested gymnasium, where Clinton — who only needed one basket — gained his career milestone moment by making the first basket of the game. 

Clinton’s 1,000th-point basket came off a rebound and put-back bucket in the paint 14 seconds into the game for an early 2-0 LCHS lead. The game was stopped as Clinton was greeted by teammates, coaches and his parents on the court as he gave them a game ball.

Clinton is the ninth Lynchburg-Clay boys basketball player to reach 1,000 points and the first since 2023.

“Getting my 1,000th point was great,” Clinton said. “Playing against Whiteoak, we are cross-county rivals with our teams, and we get real competitive in this game every year, so it is a fun game to get my 1,000th point in. I wouldn't want it any other way, except I wish we would have won.”

Clinton also talked about the experience of getting to this point in his high school career. 

“It has been great playing with the older kids, kids I grew up with, and now getting to play with younger people that are going to grow and play better than me, hopefully,” he said. “It has been a great journey.

“Coming into high school, I really only had two goals. I wanted to play varsity as a freshman so I could play with my cousin Ian Waits (who was also a 1,000-point scorer), and I wanted to get 1,000. I just want to thank my entire family, my friends, my teammates and anyone who has supported me through the years.”

LCHS head coach Kyle Pertuset spoke about Clinton’s milestone, as he’s coached him the past two seasons. 

“This is a great individual accomplishment, and I know Denver has dedicated a lot of his time to the game of basketball,” Pertuset said. “An achievement that is written in stone within the record books is something that can be never taken away, and he can draw upon what it took to get there and apply it to many life experiences that may await. We are proud of Denver’s accomplishments. It’s not something that is easily accomplished or happens by accident, it takes calculated steps and perseverance.

“My hope and expectation is for us to finish this season in a way where he can look back fondly on this experience as well, and create more memories that stand the test of time.”

Following an announcement of the feat and a short celebration where the fans gave him a standing ovation, it was time for more basketball, as LCHS took a 4-0 lead with a basket by Quin Wells, who ended the game with 11 points. 

The Wildcats came back with five consecutive points scored by Carson Hart, Brady Brandenburg and Zach Igo. LCHS scored the next three points by Tanner Roberts and Clinton. Igo tied the score with a basket at 7-7, then pushed WHS into the lead with another bucket at the 1:14 mark. 

The first quarter ended with two free throws from Roberts for LCHS, and a 3-pointer by Sawyer Blair at the buzzer for Whiteoak, putting the home team ahead 12-9 at the close of the quarter. Blair ended the game with 19 points.

“Sawyer stepped up big times, made some big shots, and he got to passing the ball where it needed to be for us to get a couple easy layups to extend the lead towards the end,” Whiteoak head coach Cory Copas said. “He was huge tonight.

“Our first half was sluggish, but like I told them, we were comfortable where we were at with a low-scoring game, and they (LCHS) wanted to get it up and down, and they wanted to get high scoring. We are pretty comfortable with being low scoring, but we definitely want to push when we have the opportunities and get transition points. Those are what I call special teams plays, and if we get transition points, that’s huge for us.”

WHS held a six-point lead at halftime, keeping the top spot for the entire quarter — and eventually the remainder of the game — with the score after two quarters being 21-15. 

LCHS saw Elam Faust — who finished the game with 12 points — score the first points of the second, then after an underhand shot on a drive to the hoop by Blair, Faust sank a 3-pointer, only to be answered with a 3-pointer by Brandenburg. Whiteoak left that sequence of scoring with a six-point lead at 26-20. 

The second continued with LCHS scoring five more points from Roberts, Faust and Harley Lewis, while Whiteoak had points for the remainder of the frame scored by Blair, Brandenburg and Jason Gaskins with a 3-pointer for a 10-point advantage at 35-25. 

Whiteoak kept a lead of no fewer  than five points for the entire fourth quarter, leading by as many as 12 points, eventually winning the game by eight points. 

WHS in the fourth opened with a layup by Blair, and after LCHS had baskets from Faust and Clinton, WHS scored two more points off a jump shot made by Blair. The quarter continued with WHS having their fourth double-digit lead of the frame with a layup from Blair at the 3:38 mark following a steal. LCHS answered with a 3-pointer by Linkin Barnett and a jumper from Clinton, who ended the game with 10 points.

WHS answered with a layup by Christopher Wessner, only to see Wells drain a 3-pointer with 2:04 left in regulation for a five-point deficit at 44-39. 

Following a timeout, Blair put WHS ahead by seven points, and later LCHS continued to battle as Wells sank a jumper for a 48-41 score, bringing LCHS back to within seven points of the WHS lead. 

WHS came back with four points scored off a free throw each from Wessner and Blair, along with a basket by Hart for an 11-point lead with 17.9 on the clock. LCHS made the final basket of the game with a jumper by Faust. 

Other LCHS final scoring totals consisted of Barnett (3), Roberts (5) and Lewis (3). Lynchburg-Clay team totals were 14 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers (Wells, Faust 2, Barnett), and they were 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. 

More WHS final scoring totals included: Wessner (8), Brandenburg (8), Igo (6), Hart (6), Gaskins (3) and  Lucas Pollard (2). WHS team totals were 17 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers (Blair 2, Gaskins, Wessner, Brandenburg), and they were 3-of-6 from the free-throw line. 

“They (LCHS) got a little too many points in the fourth with 19, but the first three quarters I thought we did a good job defensively,” Copas said. “We contained Roberts, kept him off the glass for the most part, so I was really happy with the defense, especially for three and a half quarters.

“I told them, tomorrow is a new day, nobody cares what we did tonight, so we’ll come in tomorrow and try to get better. We have a huge one down at Manchester, and we are behind the eight ball right now with everybody in the league, and every league game is a huge game.”

Next for the Mustangs (1-4, 3-7) is a SHAC game on Friday, Jan. 9 on the road at West Union. 

Whiteoak (2-3, 5-4) is scheduled to play next on Friday, Jan. 9 on the road against Manchester in SHAC action. 

BOX SCORE
LCHS    09 06 10 19 — 44
WHS     12 09 14 17 — 52

WHITEOAK (52) — L.Pollard 1 (0) 0-0 2, Z.Igo 3 (0) 0-0 6, S.Blair 6 (2) 1-2 19, J.Gaskins 0 (1) 0-0 3, C.Wessner 2 (1) 1-2 8, B.Brandenburg 2 (1) 1-2 8, C.Hart 3 (0) 0-0 6. TOTALS: 17 (5) 3-6 52. 

LYNCHBURG-CLAY (44) — Q.Wells 4 (1) 0-0 11, E.Faust 3 (2) 0-1 12, L.Barnett 0 (1) 0-0 3, T.Roberts 1 (0) 3-4 5, D.Clinton 5 (0) 0-0 10, H.Lewis 1 (0) 1-2 3. TOTALS: 14 (4) 4-7 44.