The Thunderbirds led for the better part of three quarters before fading down the stretch in a 44-33 Eastern Missouri Conference loss to the Hawks on Friday night.
North Callaway (4-11, 2-3 EMO) was on top 7-2 after one quarter and went into halftime with a 20-13 advantage. However, Clopton outscored the Thunderbirds 15-7 in the third quarter and went in front to stay at 28-27 on a 3-pointer with about 30 seconds remaining in the period.
The Hawks then took control, clinching the victory by outscoring North Callaway 16-6 in the fourth quarter.
"We came in and battled, and played hard," Thunderbirds head coach Matt Thomas said. "We got stops and were turning (Clopton) over in the first half, and forcing them to take tough shots.
"Offensive rebounding killed us in the second half; we had a hard time boxing out."
Junior guard Braden Shramek logged 14 points - including four 3-pointers - as the only player to reach double figures for North Callaway, which was 0-of-8 from the free-throw line overall. Senior forward Steven Coleman added six points and shared team rebounding honors with senior forward Michael Pezold, both collecting four.
Senior guard Brandon Hagedorn had five points and handed out a team-high six assists.
Luke Adams delivered 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to rally Clopton (11-4, 5-0).
The Thunderbirds (2-13) lost the junior varsity contest 34-23. Freshman forward Justin Popp produced a team-high nine points.
No. 7 seed North Callaway squares off against No. 2 Louisiana at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the first round of the Bowling Green Tournament.
"Louisiana is short and fast, and they shoot a lot of 3s; they like to get up and down the floor," Thomas said. "We have to stop the ball in transition and rebound."