© Clinton County News

Clinton County’s Brandon Durham scored two of his 17 second quarter points above, as he pulled up inside the lane over a Russell County defender. Durham led Clinton County in scoring, but the Bulldogs were defeated in the district finals, 64-61.

In Thursday, March 4, 2010 issue

Bulldogs fall in district finals, 64-61 Will take 17-11 record to Diddle Arena Thursday, face Patriots in regional at 6:30

The Clinton County Bulldogs almost added a 16th District Championship to its season record Friday night, but Russell County went to the foul line too many times, hitting 29 of 40 and defeating the Bulldogs, 64-61.
Clinton County fell behind early in the game and couldn’t get things going in the first quarter. Russell County came out on top at the end of one by 10 points, 17-7.

The Bulldogs fought back in the second quarter as Brandon Durham came off the bench and gave the Bulldogs the lift it needed to get back into the game.

Durham single handedly went on a 15-2 scoring spree to see the Dawgs move ahead by three points with 4:11 remaining in the second quarter.

Storm Burchett added a basket to move up by five points, but with 2:43 showing on the clock, Russell County made a basket to cut the lead to three, 24-21.

Brent Durham took the ball up strong under the goal to add a basket to Clinton County’s side to regain the five point lead, but Russell County cut the lead to one point on a 4-0 run.

Brandon Durham scored his 17th point of the game with 1:28 remaining in the second quarter to put the Bulldogs up by three, 28-25.

Russell County came back in the final minutes by hitting a field goal and three free throws to take a one point halftime lead, 30-29.

The Lakers came out in the second half and added some distance on the scoreboard by scoring four straight points.

Burchett cut the lead to three on two made free throws, but Russell County hit two of its own to move back up by five points, 36-31, with 5:08 on the clock.

Brent Durham stepped up and drained a three pointer, 36-34, but Russell County’s Adam Justice hit two free throws to extend the Lakers lead, 38-34.

With 4:19 on the clock, Clinton County made another run at the lead. Burchett hit two field goals and a free throw to take a 39-38 lead. Russell County hit a free throw and field goal to regain the lead, but a rebound and putback by James Dyer tied the score at 41 with 1:47 on the clock.

Russell County finished the quarter by hitting a three pointer, but with time running off the clock, Burchett made a layup to get to within one point, 44-43, to start the final quarter.

The Bulldogs were eight minutes away from claiming the 16th District championship title, but those eight minutes would require every ounce of energy in order to get past the #1 seeded Lakers.

For the first part of the quarter, Russell County gained control of the game, holding Clinton County to only four points until the 2:17 mark.

With Russell County hitting almost all of its free throws, the Lakers went up by eight points, 55-47.

Sawyer Stalcup knocked down a three pointer to cut the lead to five points, but Russell County added three more free throws for a seven point lead, 58-51, with 1:27 remaining.

Clinton County continued to cut into Russell County’s lead as Stalcup hit another three pointer to get to within four points.

With 46 seconds remaining, Russell County had hit four more free throws to move up by eight points, which seemed to be the icing on the cake.

Despite Clinton County’s last minute effort with a three pointer by Keifer Dalton and two field goals by Stalcup, Clinton County couldn’t get closer than the final score, 64-61.

The Bulldogs shot 45.3 percent from the floor, hitting 24 of 53, including six of 17 from the three point line.

The real story of the game was told at the free throw line. The Bulldogs hit only seven of 15 for 46.7 percent, but Russell County hit 29 of 40. Almost half of the Lakers’ total points came from the free throw line.

Five Bulldogs fouled out of Friday night’s game, including Burchett, Brandon Durham, Brent Durham and Will Parrish.

With the loss, Clinton County moves to 17-11 on the year, but its season is far from over.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Brandon Durham 17
Burchett 15
Brent Durham 11
Sawyer Stalcup 10
Dyer 4
Dalton 3
Stearns 1

Thursday night, Clinton County will travel to Bowling Green, KY, to play in the opening round of the 4th Regional Tournament against Allen County/Scottsville.

Thursday night’s game is set for a 6:30 p.m. tip off.

James Dyer put up a shot in the first half against Russell County during Friday night’s 16th District Championship finals. Dyer finished the game with four points. The Bulldogs finished the game behind by three points when the buzzer sounded, 64-61.

Bulldogs fall in district finals, 64-61 Lady Dawgs end season at Diddle Arena

Clinton County traveled to Diddle Arena Monday night to take on Franklin-Simpson in its opening round game of the 4th Region Tournament.

After Monday night’s tip-off, fans realized it would be the final game of the season for the Lady Dawgs, finishing with a 13-16 record as Franklin-Simpson defeated Clinton County by a final score of, 61-36.

Franklin-Simpson came into the region with a 21-8 record and the number two ranking behind Bowling Green High School (25-2).

Clinton County moved to 13-15 on the year after losing to Russell County in the 16th District Championship game Thursday night.

Clinton County met up with Franklin-Simpson for the Lady Bulldogs’ season opener on November 30, 2009. Franklin-Simpson won the contest, 36-28.

Clinton County 36
Franklin-Simpson 61

The Clinton County Lady Dawgs ended its season Monday night in the first round of the 4th Region Tournament as Franklin-Simpson took control early in the game to hand the Lady Dawgs a 61-36 loss.

From tip off until the final buzzer sounded, it was all Franklin-Simpson as the Lady Wildcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

It wasn’t until the 5:25 mark that Clinton County finally got on the board with a three pointer by Stevi Morgan.

Franklin-Simpson then scored six more before Brittany Flowers hit a layup and was fouled, sending her to the line for the extra points, 12-6.

Franklin-Simpson finished the quarter by grabbing a 10 point lead, 16-6.

During the second quarter, Morgan hit a field goal with 6:24 on the clock after, the Lady Wildcats put eight points on the board, 24-8.

Franklin-Simpson reached a 20 point lead with 4:54 on the clock, but a field goal by senior Brooke Boils cut the lead to 18, 28-10, with 4:33 remaining before halftime.

Clinton County spent the remainder of the half playing catchup as the Lady Dawgs went into the locker room down by 16 points, 34-18.

At the start of the second half, Franklin-Simpson added four points on two free throws and a field goal to regain a 20 point lead.

Breonia Thurman hit a field goal to cut the lead to 18 points with 7:09 on the clock, but a 7-0 run by the Lady Wildcats saw Franklin-Simpson move up by 25 points, 45-20.

Clinton County wouldn’t make it under 20 points for the remainder of the period.

With the start of the fourth quarter and the Lady Dawgs down by 21 points, 49-28, Morgan hit two free throws to cut the lead under 20, 49-30.

Clinton County’s defense was not match for the region’s #2 team as the Lady Wildcats continued to add points to the board.

During the final 5:54, Clinton County scored only one field goal, when Alex Beard grabbed a rebound and made a putback with 3:46 left in the game.

Clinton County finished the game with a 25 point loss, 61-36.

Clinton County finished the season with a 13-16 record. During Monday night’s final game, the Lady Dawgs shot 30 percent from the floor on 12 of 40 shooting, including three of seven from the three point line.

From the foul line, Clinton County hit a perfect nine of nine.

Flowers finished her career as a Lady Dawg with 1,654 total points. Brooke Boils, Clinton County’s other senior member, finished her career with 326 points.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Morgan 12
Flowers 11
Thurman 6
Dalton 3
Beard 2
Boils 2

Brittany Flowers went up for a layup in the first half against Franklin-Simpson in the first round of the 4th Region Tournament at Diddle Arena. Clinton County lost the game by a final score of 61-36. Flowers finished her final game with 11 points.

Clinton County 41
Russell County 55

The Clinton County Lady Bulldogs will have to wait another year for a chance at the 16th District title. Thursday night, after leading by as much as nine points on several occasions in the first half, Clinton County was defeated by Russell County in the championship game, 55-41.

Russell County swung the game by 23 points to win it’s first ever 16th District title in the five years the school has been apart of the 4th Region.

Russell County was moved into the 4th Region from the 12th Region during the 2005-2006 season and placed in the 16th District, while Monroe County moved to the 15th District.

In the first quarter, members of the Clinton County squad seemed to be on the same page, jumping out to a 9-0 lead before Russell County hit a basket.

With 2:43 on the clock, Russell County hit a field goal to cut the lead to seven.

Both teams added two more points to the scoreboard to finish the quarter with Clinton County in good shape, 11-4.

The first three minutes of the second quarter saw Clinton County still in control.

During the next two minutes, Russell County cut the lead to three points on three straight field goals.

Breonia Thurman hit one of two from the line to extend the lead out to four points, but a three pointer and back-to-back two pointers gave Russell County a three point edge with 2:12 on the clock, 19-16.

The Lady Bulldogs added two free throws before the half ended to get to within one point of the Lady Lakers, 19-18.

At the start of the second half, Clinton County took a one point lead from two free throws from Brittany Flowers.

Russell County came back and tied the score on a free throw, but a basket by Flowers again put Clinton County up by two, 22-20, with 7:10 on the clock.

Russell County then put together a 6-0 run to take a four point lead.

Flowers cut the lead to two points, 26-24, on a field goal, but Russell County hit a layup and two free throws to regain the six point lead, 30-24.

The Lady Bulldogs got to within four points on two made free throws by Stevi Morgan with 2:38 on the clock. Russell County then hit two free throws of its own after a made field goal to move ahead by eight.

Morgan sank one of two at the line with 58 seconds remaining in the period to get to within seven, but Russell County hit two baskets in the final seconds to grab an 11 point lead, 38-27.

Clinton County didn’t have much of a chance in the fourth quarter, getting to within seven points a couple of times during the period.

During the final two minutes, Russell County hit 11 free throws to maintain the lead and take the 16th District Championship away from the Lady Dawgs with a 14 point victory, 55-41.

Clinton County shooting was almost nonexistent as the team hit only 12 of 42 for 28.6 percent. From the three point line the Lady Dawgs hit one of 11 for nine percent.

The only place it seemed Clinton County could score was from the free throw line where the team hit 16 of 18 for 88.9 percent.

Both teams pulled down 29 rebounds and Clinton County committed only one more turnover than Russell County with 11 for the game.

Despite not winning the 16th District crown, the Lady Dawgs did have a berth in the 4th Region Tournament this week in Bowling Green, at Diddle Arena on Western Kentucky University’s campus.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Flowers 18
Thurman 16
Morgan 5
Boils 2