By Pat Turner
Contributing Writer

BASKETBALL

It appears the District 28-5A boys’ basketball race is going down to the wire.

With two weeks remaining in the season, there is a logjam in the battle for the four playoff positions.

Taft, O’Connor and Warren are sharing the lead, while Clark (19-10, 7-5) and Jay (14-13, 7-5) are tied for fourth.

Clark was in this situation a year ago, before a late run earned the Cougars a post-season berth. They’ll be looking to do the same this year.

The Cougars started the week with a 55-38 win over Marshall, but they stumbled in a 66-61 loss to Warren. Fortunately for Clark, Jay also split its games.

Clark was at its best against Marshall. Jordan Brickman’s 26 points, coupled with Elhad Emerllahu’s 12 points and 11 from Dermon Smith, gave the Cougars’ scoring balance.

The major breakthrough came in the third period. Holding a 26-21 advantage, the Cougars went on a 20-3 run to take complete charge,

Clark couldn’t carry over the hot streak to its bout with Warren.

The Warriors bolted to a 34-22 lead, but Clark started cutting away at the deficit in the third period, pulling within 47-42. The Cougars were unable to make another serious run.

Brickman led Clark with 16 points.

Clark traveled to Del Rio Tuesday and comes back home to face Taft Friday, before taking on Jay the following Tuesday.

SOCCER

Clark’s boys and girls’ soccer teams exploded out of the starting blocks in District 28-5A this past week.

After opening with two victories, the Cougars and Lady Cougars are looking to continue the pace this week.

The Clark teams played O’Connor earlier in the week and face Marshall Friday.

O’Connor and Clark are the only undefeated teams in the boys’ race. The Lady Cougars share that honor with O’Connor and Marshall in the girls’ division.

The Cougars (5-2, 2-0) came up with several clutch plays in recording victories over Holmes (2-1) and Stevens (1-0).

Against Holmes, freshman Placide Buduri scored two goals to lift Clarks to a 2-1 victory.

Goals were hard to come by against Stevens, but Austin Maher came through with a shot from 8 yards out to seal the victory.

“It was kinda crazy against Stevens,” Clark coach Eddie Ashley said. “We had about five shots on goal and couldn’t get it through. Austin stepped up and drove it through.

“We’re definitely happy with the beginning. Last year we started with a win and a tie and it went down from there for us. We’re sitting at the top and it’s looking good for us. We need to keep playing hard.”

In addition to coming up with timely goals, the Cougars’ defense has come through in the first two matches. Some of the major contributions are coming from freshmen Oscar Barboza and Johnny Lawson, plus sophomore Myles Bowen.

“We have young players back there, but they are understanding their roles,” Ashley said. “We’re playing to our strengths. We’re playing smart and not getting into the routine of what the other team is trying to do.”

The Lady Cougars (2-4-1, 2-0) enjoyed a turnaround this week. The offense, which was missing in action the first five matches, came to life in a 7-0 win over Holmes and a 2-0 victory over Stevens.

Sarah Klenke kicked in two goals against Holmes, while Shelby Henderson, Brianna Tammaro, Rebekah Richards, Macy Ellis and Alyssa Bloom also got into the scoring act.

Klenke also added a goal against Stevens, along with Taira Hernandez.

Defensively, strong work came from Amanda Mello, Shelby Wise, Henderson and Tamarro.

“We finally started playing more consistently and putting things together,” Clark coach Walter Rule said. “We’re starting to finish. We’re passing the ball better and creating opportunities to score.”