So far, the flying colors in the Class 2A girls’ basketball playoffs are red and white.
Then again, those were the colors of the teams the Red Devils have blasted. After defeating Liberty, 67-29, in the first round, Clinton (22-5), sprinted past Landrum, 45-19, on Thursday night at CHS.
The Devils are to be back at home next Tuesday, facing Region 3-2A runner-up Fairfield Central at 6 p.m. Clinton swept the Griffins in the regular season.
Clinton pulled steadily away from the Cardinals, leading 16-8 after a quarter, 22-12 at halftime and continuing to press the advantage in the second half.
McKenzie Clark led the Red Devils with 16 points.

Bryanna Belton added 11, nine of which were from 3-point range.
Other Clinton scorers were Ry’Daijia Mars (5), Mylayja Thompson (5), Kemaria Shelton (4), Nah’shia Wright (2) and Symiah Floyd (2).
Fairfield Central advanced with a 75-59 victory over Cheraw.

The Clinton boys are at High Point Academy in Spartanburg on Friday night at 6.

Laurens Academy is title hunting again.
After a spine-tingling, 44-43, overtime victory over Dorchester Academy (14-8) on Thursday at one Sumter venue, the Crusaders move to another, Sumter Civic Center, on Saturday to play Cross (18-10) of Bluffton for the SCISA Class 2A state championship.
Game time is 1 p.m.
Sadie Bruyere led the Crusaders (18-7) with 14 points, followed closely by Brooklyn Senn with 13. Mackenzie Runyon and Braylee Burke chipped in 6 apiece.

Andy Bee Young, Clinton native, Clinton High graduate and CHS head football coach, is one of the latest additions to the Hall of Fame of the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association.
Young, who played tennis at Erskine College and coached the Red Devils to a state title in that sport, is more known for his football coaching with the Red Devils, whom he directed to three appearances in the Class 3A state championship game, winning it in 2009, his final season at the helm.

If you like moral victories – or if you believe such things exist – Presbyterian College men’s basketball is your kind of team.
The Blue Hose have beaten Wofford, played South Carolina and N.C. State decent games, won consecutive games over Stephen F. Austin, Youngstown State and Monmouth, and 13 of their losses have been by 10 or fewer points, but they’re on their way to a sixth straight losing season.

PC (11-17, 4-9 Big South) fell behind by 15 points in the first half, rallied and led by as many as five in the second, but at the end, it was the same old tune as Winthrop (19-10, 9-5) won 81-77 at Templeton Center on Wednesday night.
Kobe Stewart and Kory Mincy each scored 18 points. Carl Parrish hit 12 off the bench.
The Eagles, however, scored the game’s first 10 points and led 46-37 at halftime.
Over the first seven minutes of the second half, Presbyterian outscored Winthrop, 17-7, taking a 54-53 lead after a jump shot in the paint from Mincy. With 6:06 left, the Hose led, 72-67, but Winthrop scored the next eight points. Kaleb Scott’s three-point play gave PC one last tie at 75.

K.J. Doucet led the Eagles with 24 points. Three others scored in double figures, led by Kelton Talford with 17.
Presbyterian travels back to Virginia to play Radford Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
In Rock Hill, meanwhile, Winthrop was defeating the PC women, 60-55.
Presbyterian (5-21, 3-10) lost in spite of 18 points from Aminata Tal and a double double from Paige Kindseth (16 points, 13 rebounds), her seventh of the season.
The third quarter was the Blue Hose’ undoing as they fell behind by as many as 14 points.

Winthrop (14-13, 8-6) got 16 points from Amourie Porter, 14 from Konner Gambrell and 12 from Mia Pierfax.
Words can ill express my appreciation for the assistance I’ve been getting from lifelong friends and acquaintances in regard to my recent health struggles. I’m not particularly emotional. It’s not unusual for six months to pass before I cry even at the most heartwrenching of tragedies.

I am deeply touched, though, at the concern of people I’ve known for most of my life.
The coming months will bring more change, and I don’t know yet what shape it will take.
From time to time, I have thought it a shame that people don’t often know what others think of them while they are alive. I’ve had a rough go of it recently, but I know that others respect, appreciate and support me.
Thanks for reading my stories, overlooking my flaws and indulging our differences.

In my continuing attempt to get back to normal, I played and sang a few songs at the Lumberyard on Thursday night. In my opinion, I sucked. I’m not much of a guitarist, anyway, but not playing any for a month showed. The low point was when I sang a verse of a song I wrote, then the chorus of another song I wrote. Oh, well, like everything else, I’ll do better.
My plan was to drive over to Clinton High and catch the end of the girls’ basketball playoff game. I botched that, too.
My books, most of them fiction, are available at Amazon and on other bookseller sites. If you’d like to sample my fiction, try Longer Songs, a collection of short stories, all derived from songs I’ve written.
Thanks for putting up with me.