Clinton halts Mount Pulaski Lady
Toppers winning streak
[February 10, 2026]
The Class 2A Clinton Maroons broke Mount Pulaski’s winning
streak on Monday night by beating the Lady Toppers 49-36.
Mount Pulaski trailed by five points after the first quarter and at
the half. By the end of the third quarter the Maroons were up by
double-digits and they managed to win by a decent margin thanks in
part to some really cold shooting by the Lady Toppers.
Addison Brown was the only Lady Topper with the hot hand from long
range and she carried the Mount Pulaski offense with 20 points.
Clara Dempsey was on fire for Clinton, not missing a single shot for
three quarters as she finished with 23 points.
First quarter
The jump ball went to Mount Pulaski but a quick steal by Clinton
sent everybody running the other direction. Pretty soon there were
bodies on the floor scrambling for a loose ball and only twelve
seconds had run off the clock.
Clara Dempsey would break the ice first with a three at the 7:05
mark and after a few misses by Mount Pulaski, the ball would end up
in Dempsey’s hand again and she made another three. Elayna Marten
swished a short baseline jumper to put Mount Pulaski on the board
and following a Clinton turnover, Addison Brown hit a three to trim
the lead to 6-5. Clinton went ahead 8-5 but then it was Brown again
with a three to keep Mount Pulaski on pace with the Maroons. Dempsey
sank her third three-pointer with 3:35 on the clock and with an 11-8
Clinton lead this game had already seen a couple blocked shots, some
great passes, some wild passes and a handful of 3s. After Alyson
Murphy missed a couple free throws, Dempsey was quick to the other
end to drain another three. Dempsey was 4-for-4 from three-point
range and she would be the one to carry her team to a 14-9 lead when
the quarter ended. Brown added a free throw near the one-minute mark
for Mount Pulaski’s final point of the quarter.
Second quarter
Addison Brown continued to burn the net for Mount Pulaski and her
three drew the Lady Toppers closer at the 7:20 mark. The Mount
Pulaski crowd was definitely loving it. Ella Martin’s putback kept
Mount Pulaski close, 16-14 the score. Dempsey was all over the court
and she scored again to stretch the lead for Clinton. After Murphy’s
two-point field goal and two free throws, Mount Pulaski had a little
momentum. That picked up when Brown stole the ball and ran downtown
for the layup. The lead was 23-20 when Clinton called a timeout with
just under two minutes left in the half. Dempsey would come out of
the timeout and score for Clinton. Dempsey would have sixteen points
at the half with Clinton up 25-20.
Third quarter
Both teams were slow to start the third quarter offensively. Mount
Pulaski couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with one miss after
another. Clinton was having some similar misfortune early. But once
in the hands of no. 0 for each team, it was almost a guaranteed
bucket. Brown scored a field goal first at the 6:15 mark then it was
Dempsey with the basket at the 5:50 mark. These two were fun to
watch. Dempsey stole the ball and scored again with 4:05 on the
clock. With the score 30-22, Dempsey owned 20 of those points. When
Brown scored on a three less than a minute later the score was
30-25, with Brown owning 17 of Mount Pulaski’s points. Dempsey made
her last three of the night with 2:26 on the clock and it was the
dagger. It put Clinton up 35-25 and the Maroons continued to bury
Mount Pulaski the rest of the quarter. Four more points later and it
was the Maroons 39 and Mount Pulaski 25.
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Fourth quarter
The Maroons went ahead by sixteen points early in the fourth quarter
and all Mount Pulaski seemed to do was throw up air balls. Murphy
would finally hit her first three of the game just above the
three-minute mark and she was fouled on the shot. She made the free
throw. A minute and a half later Brown scored on a three and just
maybe Mount Pulaski had a shot with the lead back to a single digit.
Sadly, for Mount Pulaski the 43-34 score at the 1:55 mark would be
the closest they would get to the Maroons. Clinton made 6-of-8 free
throws down the stretch. Murphy would get an opportunity at the line
in the final seconds and she sank those two shots. Murphy’s last
attempt at a shot was an airball and that pretty much summed up the
night. Mount Pulaski’s first loss of the season is to Clinton by a
final score of 49-36.
On a very positive note, the gym was pretty packed on a Monday night
for this girls game and that was great to see. The fans were engaged
and cheering and jeering all night long. The Clinton Pep Band was
outstanding and it was overall a great atmosphere inside the gym.
Mount Pulaski needed to play some great competition with the
postseason beginning next week. This was a great test for Coach
McVickers’ squad and no doubt they’ll be back in the gym working on
things today to prepare for a Wednesday night matchup at home with
St. Joseph-Ogden. The JV will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the Varsity
will start at 7:00 p.m.
Mount Pulaski’s record is now 25-1 on the season.
Clinton’s record is 25-4 on the season.
Alyson Murphy is just 17 points away from 2,000 career points.
In the JV game, Clinton defeated Mount Pulaski 29-24.
Varsity scoring
Mount Pulaski 36
Brown 20
Murphy 10
Marten 4
Martin 2
Clinton 49
Dempsey 23
Smith 12
Anderson 6
Fatheree 4
Cluver 4
JV scoring
Mount Pulaski 24
Johnston 15
Bender 4
Martin 2
Rhoades 2
Leonard 1
Clinton 29
Goar 14
Cyrulik 6
Dempsey 4
Bless 3
Mills 2
[Teena Lowery]
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