The Clinton County Bulldogs have had a busy holiday season so far this year with the hosting of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic last week and the out-of-town- tournament in Lexington, KY, the Republic Bank Classic.

Clinton County came out of the tournament with a 2-2 record, being defeated by Sevier County and Marshall County. The Dawgs won games against Metcalfe County and Knox County Central, the team’s first two games of the tournament.

Before Thursday’s game, December 26, against Bardstown, Clinton County was at 9-2 on the year.

Clinton County 42

Marshall County 46

Coming off its first lost of the year against Sevier County, Clinton County took on Marshall County for the final game of the 2013 Twin Lakes Holiday Classic on Sunday, December 22.

During the final game of the tournament, Clinton County found itself in a small deficit early in the game, being down 11-0 in the first three minutes.

At the 5:30 mark, Clinton County’s Cole Nelson added a basket to start a 17-5 run that would give the Dawgs the lead during the second quarter, 17-16.

Both teams went back and forth for the remainder of the second quarter with Clinton County’s defense holding its own.

As halftime rolled around, Clinton County went into the locker room with a two point lead, 23-21.

The Dawgs came out during the second half and quickly added points to the board, jumping out to a six point lead, 27-21.

At the 4:40 mark, Clay Choate completed a three point play to match a three pointer by Marshall County. Dalton then hit a field goal, 32-26, to regain a six point lead after the Marshalls hit a basket.

The quarter finished out with both teams matching each other until the final 2:21 where Marshall County held the Dawgs scoreless and cut the lead to two points at the end of the quarter, 34-32.

It didn’t take long in the fourth quarter for the Marshalls to take control of the game and take the lead.

After two free throws by Marshall County to tie the score at 34, Keifer Dalton hit two from the line to push the Dawgs ahead by two.

A three pointer by Marshall County at the 6:30 mark gave them its first lead since the second quarter, 37-36.

Clinton County fought back and Dalton hit back-to-back baskets to take a three point lead, 40-37.

Marshall County added a bucket to cut the lead to one point, but two free throws by Colby Langford put the Dawgs up once again by three points, 42-39 at the 2:59 mark.

Those free throws would be the last time Clinton County would score in the game, as Marshall County quickly tied the game on a three pointer.

The next two minutes saw both teams scoreless until Marshall County took the lead with 40 seconds remaining, 44-42.

Marshall County hit two free throws in the final 16 seconds to give the team a four point lead. The Dawgs had two attempts to take the lead in the final seconds, but were not successful as Clinton County was handed its second loss of the season, 46-42.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dalton 10

Claywell 10

Langford 8

Nelson 4

Choate 4

England 2

Anderson 2

Colin Langford 2

Clinton County 53

Sevier County 55

The third game of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic came Saturday night, December 21 against the Sevier County Smokey Bears.

The Bears jumped out to an early 13-2 lead after Langford hit the first basket of the game.

A three point play by Dalton cut the lead to eight points, but the Bears answered with a three point play of its own for a 16-5 lead at the 1:40 mark in the first quarter.

Clearly Clinton County wasn’t on its game in the first half as Sevier County dominated both ends of the floor.

Sevier County ended the first quarter hitting eight of 16 shots while Clinton County was only two of five from the floor, 18-7.

The second quarter continued much in the same fashion for Clinton County as Sevier County controlled the tempo.

With 40 seconds remaining in the half, Sevier County grabbed its largest lead of the game, 33-12. As the half ended, Clinton County trailed, 33-15.

It took several minutes during the second half for Clinton County to find its rhythm. Sevier County led the game all of the third quarter, finishing 42-32, but Clinton County was definitely moving better on offense and getting the stops they needed on defense.

A 9-0 run by the Dawgs that started in the final minutes of the third quarter and continued into the fourth quarter, saw Clinton County get to within four points, 42-38 at the 5:54 mark.

The Bears scored a field goal to regain a six point lead, but Clinton County hit a free throw and had a three point play to cut the lead to two points, 44-42 with 3:41 remaining in the game.

The Dawgs clawed back from a 21 point deficit to turn the contest into a real game towards the end of the fourth quarter.

The final two minutes saw both teams trying to stay alive from the foul line with Claywell completing a three point play with 46 seconds to cut the lead to three pointer, 52-49.

A key turnover for Sevier County saw Clinton County get the ball back with a chance to tie, but a missed shot by Langford and a foul on the Dawgs sent the Bears to the line. Sevier County hit one of two for a four point lead, 53-49, with 21 seconds on the clock.

The next trip down the floor saw Dalton make a shot to get to within two points, 53-51.

Clinton County fouled again to stop the clock at six seconds, but two free throws by Sevier County seemed to seal the deal for the Bears. Dalton hit a field goal with two seconds remaining, but it wasn’t enough to grab the win as Clinton County was handed it’s first loss of the season, 55-53.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Claywell 16

Dalton 16

Langford 13

England 3

Nelson 3

Choate 2

Clinton County 59

Knox County 56

The second game of the holiday tournament came Friday night, December 20, which would be Clinton County’s second game of the afternoon.

The Dawgs were slow to start as Knox Central jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead.

Clinton County fought back during the first quarter and took the lead as the first eight minutes of the game was complete, 17-15.

During the second quarter, both teams struggled from the floor, but Knox Central did the most damage, by putting together a 12-0 run to take a nine point lead with 4:31 remaining in the half.

Clinton County finally stopped the Knox Central momentum, but both teams were matching points toward the end of the half. The Dawgs went into the locker room at halftime, down by seven, 32-25.

During the first part of the second half, Clinton County continued to struggle from the floor. During the first four minutes of the third quarter, Clinton County had hit only one shot out of four attempts while Knox Central was three of five from the floor.

At the 3:40 mark, Knox Central led by eight points, but then the second wind came from the Dawgs as well as the comeback.

With 3:25 remaining in the quarter, Clinton County started inching its way back into the game with baskets by Cole Nelson and Dalton, 41-37.

Knox answered with back-to-back field goals, but a three pointer by Langford, followed by a basket by Nelson cut the lead from nine to three points to finish out the third quarter, 45-42.

The fourth quarter saw a quick three pointer by Langford to tie the game at 45.

Knox Central added two points to the board, but another three pointer by Langford in the corner gave the Dawgs the lead, 48-47.

Dalton followed up with a basket at the 5:04 mark, 50-47.

Knox Central hit one of two from the line on its next trip down the floor, but Dalton was fouled and he hit two of two from the line to grab a four point lead, 52-48.

With 3:35 on the clock, Colin Langford put in a basket to extend the Dawgs’ lead to six points, 54-48.

Knox Central cut the lead to four points on a basket, but Nelson made a shot from the block to put the Dawgs up by six with 2:40 remaining, 56-50.

Knox Central was still in the game, but it seemed the air was let out of their balloon in the final seconds.

Central cut the lead to one point, 57-56, but Clinton County’s Nelson hit another shot from the block for a three point lead with 24 seconds. Knox Central missed an attempt to tie the game, which gave Clinton County the chance to run out the clock and secure the win, 59-56.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Colby Langford 24

Dalton 18

Nelson 10

Claywell 5

Colin Langford 2

Clinton County 82

Metcalfe County 39

For the first game of the tournament, Clinton County played 16th District rival Metcalfe County.

The Dawgs’ game against the Hornets came just two weeks after the two teams’ first encounter of the season, where Clinton County easily won, 70-33.

This game would finish much in the same fashion as Clinton County led 26-13 after one quarter, 48-28 at the half and 63-35 at the conclusion of the third quarter.

Head Coach Todd Messer played all players during Clinton County’s game and all but two managed to score during Clinton County’s 82-39 win over the Hornets.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Langford 17

Nelson 13

Dalton 12

Claywell 10

McWhorter 7

Tallent 7

Anderson 4

Colin Langford 4

Brown 4

Collins 4

Clinton County 79

Cumberland County 64

Before the holiday season got underway last Friday, Clinton County traveled to Cumberland County on Tuesday, December 17, for the second of six district games to determine the seeding for the district tournament at the end of the regular season.

Clinton County jumped out to an early lead and appeared to be in complete control, finishing the first quarter with a 25-9 lead over the Panthers.

The second quarter saw much of the same as the Bulldogs continued to add points to the board and continued to dominate on both ends of the floor.

Clinton County scored a total of 16 points in the second quarter, compared to Cumberland County’s 10 points, for a 43-23 halftime lead.

The third quarter saw a lot more scoring for both teams as Cumberland County put up 22 in the third quarter alone. The Dawgs added only 20, but the previous lead the Dawgs had worked to get in the first half saw Clinton County lead by 18 points at the end of the third.

Cumberland County was never really in the game, however, the fact that Clinton County wasn’t playing up to its potential made the game a lot closer than it should have been.

The Panthers fought hard and gave Clinton County a little trouble towards the end, but could never put a run substantial enough to make it a game.

Clinton County finished the game with the win, 79-64.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Claywell 21

Dalton 19

Nelson 11

Colby Langford 7

Colin Langford 7

Tallent 4

England 3

Choate 2

Brown 2

Means 2

Collins 1

The Dawgs travel to Lexington this week to play in the Republic Bank Classic.

Those games and highlights will be in next week’s edition of the Clinton County News.

Keifer Dalton drove the lane for a basket during Clinton County’s second game of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic Friday, December 20, against Knox County Central.

Colby Langford put the hook shot up in the lane during the first half against Cumberland County last Tuesday, December 17. He finished the game with seven points.