By BRIAN CUNNIFF

Staff Writer

WILDWOOD – The Clayton High School boys basketball team made a ridiculous 15 three-pointers against Wildwood Friday night.

The Clippers, however, simply couldn’t stop the Warriors from scoring at the other end of the floor.

Wildwood exploded for a 26-point first quarter, had 48 points by halftime and cruised to a nowhere-near-as-close-as-it-looks 81-71 victory over the Clippers on Senior Night. The win was the team’s 13^th in 14 games. It also left the Warriors needing only to win Tuesday’s game at winless Pennsville to at least tie for the Tri-County Conference’s Classic Division title.

Ahead by eight after one period, Wildwood raced to a 22-7 advantage in the second quarter to lead 48-25 at the half. The Warriors swelled their lead to as high as 26 points before pulling back the reins over the game’s final 12 minutes.

One game removed from a career-best 42-point performance in a win over Salem, Wildwood’s Zak Barrett topped all scorers with 25 points, getting 10 of those in the opening period. Wes Hills (18) and Francis Christian (16) were also in double figures.

Clayton, which makes no attempt to hide its intention of playing the game as fast as possible, got 24 points from Purcell Downs and 15 from Shawn Johnson, who shot 5 for 9 on three-point attempts. The Clippers play a unique style that sees them often substitute five new players every two minutes. Fourteen players saw action for Clayton (7-14) in the loss.

A win on Tuesday at Pennsville would give Wildwood at least a share of its first Classic Division title since 2004. The Warriors beat Pennsville, 67-52, earlier this season at home.

Wildwood (16-5 overall, 9-2 league) is currently tied in the division standings with Pitman. Pitman, however, has a difficult final division game with third-place Schalick on Monday. A Pitman loss in that contest would give the Warriors the division title outright.