The Clinton County Lady Dawgs won three of four games last week at its own Best of the Lakes Holiday Classic, improving to 6-6 on the year.

The Lady Dawgs’ first win came on day one of the tournament against McCreary County, 65-26. Clinton County was defeated on day two in overtime by Pickett County, 63-61, and won both games on day three against Clay County, Tenn., 54-38 and Caverna, 64-51.

Clinton County 64

Caverna 51

Clinton County came out strong on day three, picking up two wins. The final game, against Caverna, was a hard fought battle in the first half as both teams traded leads in the first quarter.

Alex Beard scored first in the game during the first nine seconds, but Caverna responded with a basket of its own for the tie, 2-2.

Clinton County then went up on the Lady Colonels 10-4, with Kayla Dicken scoring the Lady Dawgs’ next eight points.

Caverna came back and got to within one point before Bree Boils made a basket at the 2:50 mark, 12-9.

Boils scored again, this time a three pointer, to put the Lady Dawgs up by four, after Caverna had cut the lead to one on a field goal.

With the Lady Dawgs up 15-11, Caverna cut the lead to one again on back-to-back baskets. Beard hit one of two from the line to lead 16-14, but a three pointer by the Lady Colonels put Caverna up by one at the end of the first quarter, 17-16.

During the second quarter Clinton County maintained it’s composure and stayed with the Lady Colonels. Both teams didn’t score as much in the second quarter, but Clinton County found itself with a tie ball game at half time, 26 all.

As the Lady Dawgs came out after halftime, the offense quickly picked up for Clinton County.

The Lady Dawgs put together a 7-0 run to lead 33-29. Caverna scored a basket to cut the lead to two points, but a three pointer by Cori Langford and a basket by Ansley Stalcup put Clinton County up by seven with 1:54 remaining in the period, 38-31.

Caverna would score three points on a three point play to finish the quarter, but Clinton County’s Allie Hopper scored a basket, followed by one free throw from Joelie Hicks for a 41-34 lead after three quarters.

In the final quarter, Clinton County put up 23 points in the period while holding Caverna to only 15 to grab the 13 point victory, 64-51 and to finish the holiday stretch with a 6-6 record on the year.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dicken 22

Stalcup 14

Boils 7

Elmore 4

Hopper 4

Beard 3

Bookout 3

Langford 3

Campbell 2

Hicks 1

McWhorter 1

Clinton County 54

Clay County, Tenn. 38

The Lady Dawgs’ first game on Saturday December 28, 2013, in the Best of the Lakes Holiday Classic was against Clay County, Tennessee. Clinton County started off the game scoring at will and jumping out to a 7-3 lead.

Clay County came back by the end of the first quarter and cut the lead to two points as the quarter ended, 11-9.

Clay County took the lead in the first 30 seconds of the second quarter by hitting a three pointer, 12-11, but the Lady Dawgs responded with a three point play by Stalcup to lead by two points, 14-12.

The score was tied at the 6:15 mark when Clay County hit a field goal, but Dicken made a basket and was fouled with six minutes remaining in the half. She completed the three point play for a 17-14 lead.

Clay County, however, wasn’t finished as a three pointer tied the score at 17. Dicken regained the lead on a field goal, but Clay County tied the game at the 5:02 mark, 19-19.

Clinton County then began to pick up the pace on offense and defense, holding Clay County to only four more points for the half. The Lady Dawgs scored eight in the final four minutes of the second quarter for a 29-23 halftime lead.

During the third quarter, Clinton County put up 11 points while holding Clay County to only six. Clinton County’s defense was holding strong which saw an 11 point lead at the end of the third, 40-29.

The fourth quarter saw much of the same as Clinton County continued to control the game. Clay County scored nine points in the fourth period, while Clinton County put up 14. The second half efforts of the Lady Dawgs gave them the 54-38 victory.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dicken 20

Stalcup 16

Boils 7

Hicks 4

Beard 3

McWhorter 2

Polston 2

Clinton County 61

Pickett County, Tenn. 63

The only real test Clinton County had during the Best of the Lakes Holiday Classic was against Pickett County, Tennessee. Clinton County took the game all the way to overtime, but lost by two points, 63-61. For the season, Clinton County stands 2-1 in overtime games, picking up wins against Metcalfe County and Greenwood on December 13 and 14 respectively.

During the Pickett County game, Clinton County started off on a roll scoring the first two baskets and taking a 4-0 lead early before Pickett County scored a field goal, but a free throw by Dicken put the Lady Dawgs up by three, 5-2.

The first quarter was back and forth with both teams playing hard nosed basketball.

Pickett County put together a 7-0 run to finish the quarter with a six point lead, 19-13.

During he second quarter, Clinton County continued to fight back, but Pickett County’s three point shooting hurt the chances of Clinton County grabbing a halftime lead.

Pickett County hit three in the second quarter to reach an 11 point lead with 2:20 on the clock.

The Lady Dawgs finished the quarter scoring only four points while Pickett County hit a free throw to trail at the half, 32-24.

Both teams got after the ball during the first half as 12 jump ball calls were made during the first two quarters.

The first part of the third quarter saw much of the same from both teams, but Clinton County wasn’t out just yet.

It took the better part of that quarter, but Clinton County fought its way back in the game and finally took the lead as the buzzer sounded, 47-45.

Despite Pickett County’s three point shooting, hitting 10 for the game, Clinton County put up 23 points in the period while holding Pickett County to only 13.

During the final quarter, Clinton County had new life and played that way. With both teams going back and forth with baskets, the crowds on both sides were getting into the action as well and becoming very vocal to support their respective teams.

Midway through the final quarter, Pickett County lost two players to fouls. The Lady Bobcats then hit back-to-back field goals to move up by four points, 55-51 with 3:24 on the clock. Pickett County then went into stall mode and no points were scored for more than a minute and a half until Stalcup hit free throw to cut the lead to three, 55-52.

The Lady Bobcats answered with a free throw of its own, but a three point play by Stalcup cut the lead to one point with 59 seconds on the clock.

Pickett County then lost its third player to foul trouble, giving Clinton County more hopes for a win, but the Lady Bobcats knocked down two points from the foul line to take the lead by two.

A drive by Stalcup tied the score at 57 with 46 seconds remaining.

Pickett County held the ball for the final shot of the game, but missed with five seconds to send the game into overtime tied at 57.

To open up overtime, Pickett County uses the clock to its advantage. The first points in the overtime period came at the 1:30 mark as Pickett County hit a three pointer, 60-57.

Stalcup was fouled at the 1:01 mark and hit two of two to cut the lead to one point, 60-59.

With 54 seconds remaining in the overtime period, Pickett County hit one of two to grab a two point lead, 61-59. The next possession came up short for Clinton County, but its defense stepped up and got Pickett County in a bind. Pickett County Head Coach Brent Smith quickly called a time out in order to keep the possession that was very close to going Clinton County’s way.

Another foul on Clinton County during that possession put Pickett County at the line for two to take a four point lead with 11 seconds, 63-59.

With the final seconds ticking away, Stalcup drove the lane and made a shot with .3 seconds remaining to cut the lead to two points. That basket, while cutting the lead to two points, was also Stalcup’s 1,000th career point as a Lady Bulldog. She was also fouled on that shot, giving her only one shot from the foul line.

Down by two and only one free throw remaining, Stalcup missed the free throw and the ball came off on the right side of the goal. Beard was there for the rebound, but a Pickett County player tipped the ball and Clinton County failed to get another chance to tie the game. Pickett County came off with the overtime win, 63-61.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Stalcup 31

Beard 15

Dicken 5

Elmore 4

Boils 2

Hopper 2

Hicks 2

Clinton County 65

McCreary County 26

The Lady Dawgs won its first game in the Best of the Lakes Holiday Classic at Lindle Castle Gymnasium. Clinton County played McCreary Central and from the opening minutes, it was all Clinton County.

McCreary Central hit the first bucket of the game and that was the only time the Lady Raiders led as Clinton County then started scoring, jumping up 5-2. McCreary County later cut the lead to one, 9-8, but the Lady Dawgs then put together an 11-2 run to finish the quarter, 20-10.

In the second quarter, Clinton County continued to score at will, outscoring the Lady Raiders 16-4 in the period, for a 36-14 halftime lead.

Clinton County outscored McCreary Central in the third quarter, 19-10 and in the fourth quarter 10-2 for the 65-26 victory.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Stalcup 16

Beard 12

Dicken 7

Hopper 7

Campbell 6

McWhorter 4

Polston 4

Elmore 3

Flowers 2

Langford 2

Bookout 2

Clinton County will be back in action at on Friday as the Lady Dawgs host Russell County. Clinton County will also travel to McCreary County on Saturday, January 4 for the Southern Kentucky Shootout. The Lady Dawgs will face Whitley County at noon. Those games and highlights will be in next week’s edition of the Clinton County News.

1,000 and counting …

Ansley Stalcup hit this shot with 0.3 seconds on the clock against Pickett County in the Best of the Lakes Holiday Classic to put her into the 1,000 point club.

Alex Beard

Allie Hopper

Kayla Dicken