Johnson, Patriots down James Clemens at “The Hangar”

MADISON — The James Clemens basketball gym was alive with energy Friday night.

The environment bordered on chaotic with fans spilling into the walkway around the bleachers and mini fights breaking out here and there.

Through all of that noise in the background, there was a tightly contested boys basketball game taking place on the hardwood.

It was rivalry week once more and Bob Jones was paying a visit to the Jets and this time the Patriots were able to get the best of James Clemens with a 51-46 road victory.

One of the catalysts for Bob Jones was the clutch play of sophomore shooting guard Corban Johnson who ended up with nine points in the win.

“I just came in ready to shoot,” Johnson said.

“They played pretty good defense. I just had to wait for the ball to come my way. And when it came my way, I just wanted to take full opportunity to do whatever I could for the team.”

Johnson had the ball rippling the net at some of the biggest moments of the game with his first 3-point bucket coming at the 5:30 mark of the second quarter to square the game at 13-13.

Clad in their road navy blue uniforms the team that shall remain nameless, at least to the JC faithful, battled the Jets in their glowing home white.

Just before the half, James Clemens was up 18-15 with mere seconds on the clock when Johnson struck again with another dagger of a 3-ball that knotted the battle at 18-18.

Johnson rounded out his offensive night with a third 3-point basket that made it 39-30 Bob Jones early in the fourth quarter and helped the Patriots keep some distance from James Clemens.

The win for the Patriots was a massive one for a team that has played four games in four days with disappointing results other than Friday.

Bob Jones fell to at-home Austin 72-46 on Tuesday, lost a 50-49 home heartbreaker to Florence on Wednesday and dropped a third this week on Thursday to Austin 59-48 on the road.

For the Patriots to travel to James Clemens and pull out that win against a tough rival was something special and a game like that gives Johnson and this young team some hope for the future.

“We have had a rough season,” Johnson said.

“A lot of ups and downs but I feel like right now we are on the up and up. Just going into area play, we want to do whatever we can to make it to Wallace and hopefully compete for state.”

For a complete breakdown on this game be sure to pick up a print copy of the Madison Record on Wednesday, January 31.