Greer was ahead by one point after three quarters (51-50) while Burton sat it out with four fouls. “We didn’t have an answer for (Burton) tonight. He’s a good player,” Greer coach Jeff Neely said. “I thought we would have done a better job on 33 (Burton).”
The loss means Greer must win its final two region games, at Union Friday and at Blue Ridge on Thursday, Feb. 9 to secure a berth in the playoffs. Greer is 2-4 in the region. Four of the five region teams advance to the playoffs.
Greer’s LaBrian Shiflet had a game-high 30 points, making six 3-point goals. He also got called for a technical in the fourth quarter during Clinton’s run.
Dre Terry scored 19 points to add onto Shiflet’s total. “Keenan Caldwell scored 18 points and teammate Jeroivie Wimphire added 14. Clinton had four players with four fouls who found a way to stay in the game. Dre Terry of Greer fouled out.
Greer built a 23-17 lead after the first quarter and kept coming back when Clinton made runs on the Yellow Jackets in the next two quarters. The final period got away from Greer as Clinton went up by 16 points midway through.
“It’s just frustrating,” Neely said of the loss. “We could play with these guys. A lot of spots we played well. At times we were in the wrong defense and should have gotten out of it more quickly. That was my fault.”
The players somberly left the lockeroom after the game. “We’ve got to get them ready for Union,” Neely said. “We’ve got to have that game. We’ve got our back against the wall and we need to step up and respond.”
CLINTON 84, GREER 82
CLINTON: Van Nibert 2 1-3 7, Jacob Adams 0 0-0 0, Niel Lee 0 3-6 3, Keenan Caldwell 7 3-6 18, Greg Anderson 0 0-0 0, Lavarich Glenn 5 1-2 11, Keyon Brown 0 0-0 0, Truett Burns 0 0-0 0, Jeroivie Wimphire 5 4-6 14, Keshon Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Chris Gary 2 2-2 6, Davaris Burton 8 9-10 25. TOTALS: 29 23-35 84.
3-point goals (3): Nibert 2, Caldwell 1.
Fouls (19): Nibert 3, Caldwell 4, Glenn 4, Wimphire 4, Gary 1, Burton 4.
GREER: Dre Terry 6 4-6 19, D’Ante Fleming 2 0-2 2, Jameal Robinson 0 0-0 0, Eddie Ballenger 0 0-0 0, Josh Gentry 2 2-3 6, Scott Williams 0 0-0 0, Joel Wilson 0 0-0 0, LaBrian Shiflet 11 11-16 30, DaQuan Thomas 0 2-2 2, Zack Smith 1 0-0 2, Josh Henderson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 19-29 72.
3-point goals (9): Terry 3, Shiflet 6.
Fouls (18): Terry 5, Fleming 3, Robinson 1, Ballenger 1, Gentry 3, Williams 3, Shiflet 3, Thomas 5, Smith 1, Thornton 1, Henderson 1.
Technical (1): Shiflet.
Clinton 17 19 14 34 – 84
Greer 23 15 13 21 – 72