By MONTE DUTTON

Now, I’m kidding, okay?

The last two times I’ve watched Clemson play basketball, the Tigers have come from hopelessly behind to losing barely. Against Louisville, if not for an unbelievable “no call,” they may well have won. Against the McNeese State Cowboys on Thursday, Clemson was way back. Yet the final score was 69-67.

The former, in the ACC Tournament, was closer than the score indicated. The latter wasn’t because Clemson didn’t have a chance at the end. They were fast closing when the outcome was really sealed.

In the first half, the Tigers looked as if they were on drugs. They weren’t, but that’s the way it looked. Clemson shot 22 percent in the first half and trailed, 31-13. I didn’t have any experience with hallucinations until they put me on ketamine for a few days when I was in the hospital, so that was my amateur speculation.

This was my account of that experience: Four Hundred Hogs – Blue, Green, Purple & Red.

I considered the Clemson cause hopeless, so I took a shower. I listened to the final seconds on the radio in the parking lot of a local restaurant. It was a noble, doomed, frantic effort. They didn’t give up; they got started too late. An 18-point deficit at halftime was too much. McNeese missing nine second-half free throws was too little.

If Clemson only played the final five minutes, they might have made the Elite Eight this year. The Tigers had a fine but unfulfilled season.

I watched lots of NCAA games on Thursday, mainly, f course, because I filled out a bracket.

There were many respectable losses. I thought Wofford played well even though Tennessee won convincingly. Not many schools that play great defense get upset. It was about the same with North Texas beating Furman on Wednesday night in the NIT.

If the refs let ’em play, the big schools are going to. Many small schools have tough, determined players inside who get swamped by taller, more athletic players from the powers. Such was the case with Wofford’s Kyler Filewich, who was the MVP of the Southern Conference tournament. He was lost in the line against the Vols.

When a three-game series enters its final games tied at one win apiece, it’s known as “the rubber game.” That’s what Laurens and Westside are played at Ed Prescott Field on Friday evening.

After falling to the Rams at home on Monday, the Raiders rebounded with an 8-2 verdict in Anderson on Wednesday.

Noah Hughes went the distance on the hill, and Zay Pulley and Coleman Coker each homered to lead Laurens’ eight-hit attack. Coker, Avery Madden and Ben Willis each had two hits, and the Raiders took advantage of four Westside errors.

Hughes struck out four and walked a like number.

The same was true in reverse with softball, where Westside rebounded with an 18-8 victory after Laurens won the opening game, 10-9.

The Rams broke open a tight battle with nine runs in the third inning.

Carly Edwards led Laurens with three hits in four trips with an RBI. Four more Raiders – Emily Dutton, Summer Nations, Myleigh Robertson and Addison Trevino – each had two hits. Three errors and seven walks hurt the Laurens cause.

Whitmire defeated Thornwell, 14-5, in baseball, taking more advantage from 12 walks than seven hits.

Sam Robertson and Jaden Wilson each collected two hits, one of which was a double in both cases, for the Saints.

Spartanburg Christian easily won a softball game against Laurens Academy. The 8-0 shutout came despite hits by Braylee Burke and Mackenzie Runyans. The former was a triple.

Four Clinton tennis players won without surrendering a single game against Mid-Carolina.

Edwin Orr, Nathan Meade, Matthew King and Jacob King all prevailed 6-0, 6-0 against the Red Devils in a 6-0 Region 3-2A opener.

Luke McMurray carded a 36 and led Clinton to a 161-191 golf victory over Union County. Aiden Bragg added a 38, Josh Rochester 43 and John Carles 44.

Mason Russell’s 44 led the Yellow Jackets.

For the second season in a row, Presbyterian is playing in the College Basketball Insider tournament in spite of its 14-18 record. That’s a record that may never be broken. They’re the only team in a tournament of 12 with a losing record … for the second straight season.
I feel as if the world has passed me, not to mention my abdomen, by. As much as it took a physical toll on me, I wouldn’t have missed Asheville for the Final Four. Chattanooga and Samford are also in the NIT field.
Most of my books are available at Amazon and other online bookseller sites. The most recent, The Latter Days, is a baseball novel, which you may enjoy in part because, well, the Paladins no longer play it. If you’d like to sample my fiction, Longer Songs is a collection of short stories derived from songs I’ve written.
Thanks for putting up with me.