Clinton Central (2,000) Built 1959
February 17, 2026: North Montgomery vs. Clinton Central (Boys)
I've heard it said that scents are maybe the most effective keys to unlocking memories. I can think of a few instances where this has certainly been true for me. I think anyone who loves going to basketball games can relate to this on some level. Popcorn, old bleachers, hot and sweaty gyms, they all have different scents that connect you to different moments or games throughout your life. For me, the back hallway that leads to the locker rooms at Westview always had a scent that stuck out to me and represented the anticipation of a big game in that gym. Another scent hit me in a gym this winter that took me back to another time in my life that I was not expecting. When I was five, my family moved out to the countryside across the street from the family farm. It was a new build being done by the building trades class at Westview. Essentially, the quality of our new home was put into the hands of high school kids (27 years later my parents are still in the home, and I think they did a good job!). My dad did a lot of work on the house himself as well, and I remember a lot of evenings out on the job site as it was being finished. There's a certain smell that I associate with a construction site because of it. Drywall, fresh cement, sawdust, it just all comes together in a way that smells brand new. It's not necessarily bad or good, I just instantly recognize it to this day and it takes me back to that time. I ran into it again when my boys and I headed over to Clinton Central back in February. It smelled just like our house did a few weeks before we moved in: brand spanking new. The only problem is the gym at Clinton Central isn't brand spanking new, it's almost 70 years old.
Clinton Central is one of two gyms I visited at the end of the season that I had decent expectations for because of pictures I had seen online, and then just rolled my eyes when I actually walked inside them (Bluffton being the other). In the not very old pictures, I saw a really neat floor design with cool interlocking "C's" at center court and and a really sharp baseline pattern. I saw the kind of lighting I love where the bleachers are shrouded in darkness and the court shines in the light with all the focus on it. I saw a two level setup that looked like it had a little character. What I found was a place that clearly had been remodeled recently. Now the thing is, not all remodels are bad! I think Huntingon North, West Noble, and a few other places have done a decent job. The track record isn't great, but there are some good exceptions. I don't know what happened here. Maybe the older pictures I saw oversold it a bit and there was nothing to write home about to begin with, but now there is truly nothing. I could only come up with ten pictures of the entire gym worth including in this blog, and six of those are the standard angles I take of every single gym. That means only four things stood out to me. Four! And one of those was a random old school desk I thought looked neat sitting in a corner.
Before I jump into how little there is to talk about here, I want to say upfront that I do feel a little bad. Nobody sets out to do a bad job on a remodel, and all of this stuff is subjective. If you disagree with me or think I'm an idiot, you wouldn't be the first! And I don't blame you. Also, I didn't realize before researching Clinton Central's history just how much they have struggled over the last couple of decades. I'm talking about multiple seasons of 3 or fewer wins. They've never won a sectional in the class era, which feels impossible for a 1A school. They actually had some success in the early years of the school, winning five sectionals in the single class era, and even a regional in the first year of the school's existence. That's actually really impressive considering they played in the Frankfort sectional and they were a small school. (The girls have had more success in both eras). And now it just feels like I'm piling on, which isn't my intention. Clinton Central comes from a group of county schools in Forest, Michigantown, Kirklin, Scircleville (all-time name), and Sugar Creek Township that all had their own proud basketball traditions. In the early years, it seemed like Clinton Central was well on their way to establishing a strong tradition of their own, they just haven't been able to sustain it. It would be cool to seem them tap into that rich heritage from the pre=consolidation schools, Maybe they could put together some cool displays honoring them. It's too bad they just don't have any empty wall space...
Oh wait! That's actually all they have here. One thing I wasn't able to see in the older pictures was the baseline walls. I don't know if they had banners, or signage, or murals, or literally anything on them before the renovations. Now there is nothing. Well, besides scoreboards, two digital screens for advertisements, and a slew of senior athlete banners which will obviously come down at the end of the year. Everything is just blank. My only hope is that the renovations are so new that they're actually not done, and that some stuff will be put up eventually. That's what kills me about these remodels. While I generally dislike them, they do give you the chance to do some creative new things. At least try something! The rest of the gym has about as much pizzazz as the baseline walls. There are two levels of new bleachers along the sidelines, which credit to them, they went with wood at least. The bottom level has 6 rows and the top has 11. The wall separating the two levels is a little higher than most. The mats running along the lower baseline walls look kind of cool. I don't hate the new hardwood design, it's just extremelybusy. It has that trendy glossy finish to it that makes it seem like it'd be very slippery, though I'm sure it's not. The perimeter of it is all green along with the areas inside the three-point lines. The inside of the foul lanes are painted a dark brown and have "Bulldogs" written right inside the free throw lines. The signature of Linda Barnett, who the court is named after, is transcribed right inside the sidelines. The silhouette of the Bulldog head is at center court along with the interlocking green "C's" I talked about earlier. And let's not forget, there's a cool old desk sitting in one of the corners of the gym if you can find it.
I remember just sitting in the upper section here, watching the JV game wind down, and feeling so frustrated. I am almost always going to be in favor of preserving the past when possible. Anyone who reads this blog knows that. I also know that remodels give schools a chance to do something new and exciting in terms of the design of a gym. That didn't happen here. They played it safer than I even knew was possible. If the Bulldogs are somehow able to turn the program around in the next few years and can put a decent squad out on the floor, I'm sure the crowds will come out and no one will be lamenting the gym. It'll just be me, bah-humbugging from afar.