At Catholic, the Cards never led and trailed by 16 points at one time in the first half. Clark rallied and narrowed the margin to three late in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get any closer.
"Their quickness and aggressiveness in the first quarter put us on our heels," Clark coach Scott Humphrey said. "We just weren't able to overcome that. You (get) down 16 in the first half against a good team, it's going to make it tough."
Humphrey said Male's aggressiveness was a difference in the outcome. Another difference, Humphrey said, was his team's inability to hold an edge in the post. The Bulldogs outrebounded the taller Cards 29-28.
"The last time, we were the aggressor and won the rebounding battle," he said.
"This time, they won the rebounding battle and that should never happen."
Male's Decarlo Hayes led all scorers with 25 points and set the tone for his team to follow. Hayes had 13 of those in the first half.
Vinny Zollo led Clark in scoring with 19 points, followed by Robbie Stenzel with 18.
At East Carter, Breathitt County raced out to a 22-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back in handing Clark its worse setback of the season.
"It was the first game (this season) where we just weren't competitive," Clark girls coach Scott True said. "They're a good team and they've been to the state tournament four years in a row. It was the first time we didn't have a chance to comeback in the fourth quarter. For whatever reason, we never could get on track."
One of Clark's issues was taking care of the basketball. The Lady Cards committed 298 turnovers, including 10 in the first quarter.
"You just can't do that against an experienced state tournament team," True said. "I don't want to make excuses. We just weren't engaged in what we were doing."
A bright spot for Clark was the play of Amy Haggard, who finished with eight points.
"Amy put together a good effort for us," True said. "She hit a couple of threes and gave us a big lift. On a negative night, we got a positive out of her."
Taylor Kindred led Clark with nine points.
Boys
Male 20 16 14 18 — 68
Clark 13 10 19 20 — 62
MALE (6-4) — Hayes 25, Glenn 13, Horne 10, Logan 7, Pillischafske 9, Moore 4.
CLARK (9-3) — Daniel 8, Kindred 8, Stenzel 18, Zollo 19, Rogers 9.
Girls
Clark 07 16 06 07 — 36
Breathitt 22 18 14 09 — 63
CLARK (2-6) — Black 3, Borders 7, Rogers 5, Kindred 9, Gay 4, Haggard 8.
BREATHITT (5-3) — Spencer 23, Noble 14, Scouse 4, Bowen 13, Keaton 6, Fugate 3.
