By MONTE DUTTON

In a week of moping around, dealing with things that would not work and dreaming impossible dreams, life gets back to normal, or didn’t I write that last week?

Notes from watching too many basketball games:

Gunfighters shoot from the hip. Politicians shoot from the lip. Basketball players shoot from the elbow, all of a sudden. It refers to an intermediate shot to the right or left of the lane.

In retrospect, the least disappointing aspect of Connecticut’s victory over Furman is that it freed me up to watch most of the NASCAR race at Darlington. I knew, of course, that a Paladin victory was unlikely, but I had to watch because one amazing upset is worth at least a dozen predictable losses. I’m proud of my alma mater. People at big schools never get to experience such an upset as Furman’s buzzer beater over Virginia in 2023.

One makes the best. Darlington and Martinsville are my favorite tracks. Martinsville is next.

I don’t watch all the races anymore. I didn’t watch all of the race Sunday. I checked on it from time to time and saw the end.

All the best to Tyler Reddick. I’ve never met him. The last season I wrote about NASCAR, Brad Keselowski won the championship. He finished second Sunday. His most recent victory was at Darlington in 2024.

In terms of winning seasons, Clovis Simmons’ tennis programs are Clinton High School’s most successful, going back more than 50 years. Former coaches include the Red Devils’ two leading football winners, Keith Richardson and Andy Bee Young, but the great bulk of Red Devil success has occurred under hall of famer Clovis Simmons.

This year’s boys’ team is 5-1, the latest being 6-0 Region 3-2A victories over Columbia. Clinton won every game in the top five singles flights and all but two.

# 1 Singles   Matthew King defeated Malek Cherry    6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 2 Singles    Edwin Orr defeated Tristan Kruckow – Remsburg  6 – 0, 6 – 0

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# 3 Singles    Jacob King defeated Jayden Hagans   6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 4 Singles    Jake Meyerholtz defeated Travis Edmond    6 – 1, 6 – 0

# 5 Singles    Ethan Wargo defeated Matthias Wilson  6 – 0, 6 – 2

# 1 Doubles     DID  NOT  PLAY

# 2 Doubles    Malakye Brewer & Hang Lanford defeated Angel Torrez & Caleb Monett  6 – 0, 6 – 0

Tuesday’s results were almost identical.

# 1 Singles   Matthew King defeated Malek Cherry    6 – 0, 6 – 0                

# 2 Singles    Edwin Orr defeated Jayden Hagans    6 – 0, 6 – 0

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# 3 Singles    Jacob King defeated Tristan Kruckow-Remsburg  6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 4 Singles    Jake Meyerholtz defeated Travis Edmond  6 – 0, 6 – 0

# 5 Singles    Cooper Stinson defeated Matthias Wilson  6 – 2, 6 – 2

# 1 Doubles     DID  NOT  PLAY

# 2 Doubles    Malakye Brewer & Ethan Wargo defeated Angel Torrez & Culeb Monett  6 – 0, 6 – 0

The Red Devils visit Mid-Carolina on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Only the place has been changed. This is not a test.

Clinton’s latter victory over Columbia was on the Capitals’ home diamond, and for that reason the game ran three innings, not 2-1/2. The former was 15-0, the latter, 16-0. Columbia (0-7) was again hitless with a walk.

The Red Devils (7-1, 2-0) collected 16 runs off 13 hits and committed no errors. Catcher Luke Young walked twice, scored twice and belted a three-run homer. At the top of the order, center fielder Camden Finley was 3/3 with a double, a triple and three RBI. Right fielder Owen Glenn homered and Angel Vargas and Avery Barnes also drove in a pair.

Vargas and Talan Campbell each fanned all three batters they faced. Barnes issued a walk and struck out two. Three of the Capitals’ four baserunners were hit by pitches.

The Red Devils visit Newberry on Monday (6:30) and Mid-Carolina on Tuesday (7:30), hosting the Rebels at the same time on Friday.

Girls’ soccer is off to a 7-2 start going into Friday’s match at Columbia.

The Red Devils have amassed victories over, in order, Laurens (7-0), Southside (10-0), Laurens (6-0), Batesburg-Leesville (2-0), Union County (9-0), Pelion (4-1) and Columbia (6-1).

Clinton has lost to Newberry and Broome, both by scores of 2-0.

Not so for the boys, who are 0-9 following an 8-2 loss to Columbia.

A 5-4 Whitmire victory dropped the Clinton softball record to 3-2. The Red Devils have beaten Greenwood (12-3), Southside Christian (18-4) and Laurens (12-2), with losses to Woodruff (3-2) and Whitmire.

Laurens (1-7, 1-2) faces lost its Region 1-4A baseball series against Westside, traveling to Anderson and falling 11-1 after winning there, 10-3, on Monday and dropping a 6-5 decision at home on Wednesday.

Softball (3-5, 1-1) fell to Westside, 10-1, on Thursday.

Presbyterian College baseball (4-21, 2-4) fell in 10 innings, 6-5, at High Point on Friday. Amman Dewberry’s ninth-inning homer wasn’t enough to prevent an 8-5 loss to the Panthers on Saturday. Matthew Rollison hammered two on Sunday, but High Point (14-9, 4-2) still swept the series, 9-3.

The Blue Hose do not play another home series until April 10-12, when Winthrop visits.

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It means a lot to me that you enjoy what I write.

Most of my books are available at Amazon. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions.