American Leadership Academy showed Clinton the door to the Class 2A boys’ basketball playoffs on Monday night.

The door was at Lakeside Middle School in Lexington, where the Patriots won, 80-56, in the Upstate semifinals.

There are worse things. Had the Red Devils lost on a tip-in at the buzzer, tears would have flowed. ALA extended a winning streak to 10 games, and Clinton (19-9) fell after 15 straight victories. After a shocking start, the end was relatively painless.

Thirteen of the Patriots’ 14 players are seniors. The Red Devils had two. One, Nyterian Smith, led Clinton with 24 points and P.J. McGowan scored 11.

American Leadership (20-8) scored the game’s first nine points, led 18-10 after a quarter, 45-21 at halftime and 64-44 after three quarters.

Justin Richburg led the Patriots with 25 points. Brice Newton added 11.

“We were a little sloppy, especially in the first half,” Clinton head coach Dontavius Glenn said. “We didn’t execute our game plan defensively. The second half we played a lot better. We had too far to bounce back.

“We keep building, last year in the second round, this year in the third. You look at that roster. (Most) everybody is coming back. We had a young squad, probably one of the youngest in the state.”

Attention now turns back to the women, who are at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m. versus Landrum (20-4) in the Upstate semifinals.

The Red Devils (27-1) have thus far beaten Liberty, 49-18, and Ninety Six, 42-28, in the playoffs. Clinton is ranked at the top of Class 2A by the S.C. Basketball Coaches Association and has won 15 straight games.

Clinton baseball opens its season on Friday at 7:30, playing the host team in Greenwood’s Emerald City Classic. After playing Emerald, the Red Devils take on Belton-Honea Path on Saturday at 3:30 and Ninety Six on March 4 at 5.

The tournament winds up on March 7 with the championship game.

The first home game isn’t until March 17 at 6:30 against Columbia. Peyton Spangler’s team visits Strom Thurmond on March 10 at 6:30 and Laurens on March 13 at 7:30.

A March 3 visit to Greenwood High opens Red Devil softball season at 6 p.m.

The Big South’s top men’s team, High Point (26-4, 14-1 Big South), plays a nationally televised game at Templeton Center on Thursday at 7 on ESPNU.

Presbyterian (14-15, 7-7) lost to the Panthers, 84-81, on the road at High Point’s Qubein Arena on Jan. 29.

The Panthers seized the top spot in the conference with an 89-87 victory over Winthrop on Saturday. PC closes the regular season on Saturday with a 4 p.m. game against the Eagles in Rock Hill.

After opening the season with a doubleheader sweep of Akron, Presbyterian College’s baseball team has dropped six games in a row, falling twice in another twinbill to the Zips followed by losses to Elon, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Northern Illinois and Valparaiso.

The Blue Hose (2-6) face a tall order on Tuesday, visiting Clemson (7-0) at 4 p.m., then traveling to Jacksonville for three weekend games versus North Florida and a March 3 game at Charleston.

PC’s next home game is a March 6 game against Appalachian State at 4. The teams play in Hickory, N.C., on March 7 and Boone on March 8.

Presbyterian (3-24, 1-13 Big South) visits Radford (18-11, 10-4) in women’s basketball on Wednesday at 7, then closes the regular season at home versus Longwood (18-9, 9-5) on Saturday at 2.

PC softball (6-6) is to host Wofford on March 18 at 6 p.m. The Blue Hose are coming off victories over Albany, 1-0, and Mercyhurst, 12-3, on Saturday. A game at home versus East Tennessee State, originally set for March 16, has been canceled.

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