The Clinton County Bulldogs lost its first game of the Touchtone Energy All “A” Classic Regional game Monday night to Monroe County after starting the game with a 14-1 lead in the first quarter.

Monroe County put together a 5-0 run to end the first and continued with a 4-0 in the second quarter to get to within four points of the Bulldogs, 14-10.

A basket by Colby Langford put the Dawgs back up by six points, but a 5-0 run by the Falcons cut the lead to one point, 16-15, with 4:04 remaining in the half.

Clinton County struggled from there on out and couldn’t find the shots that gave them a commanding lead early in the first quarter.

The Dawgs would only score three more points in the first half while Monroe County added nine to the board for a 24-19 halftime lead.

The third quarter went much the same way for Clinton County as the Dawgs continued to struggle from the floor. Every shot made by Clinton County was matched by the Falcons and at the 2:32 mark, Monroe County grabbed a 10 point lead, 37-27.

Clinton County finished the quarter down by seven, 38-31, in hopes of improving for the final period.

Monroe County got as much as a 12 point lead early in the fourth quarter, but at the 3:06 mark, Clinton County tried desperately to close the gap and now some shots were falling for the Bulldogs.

At the 2:30 mark, Lance Claywell hit a three pointer to cut the lead to eight points, 52-44.

Monroe County hit one of two from the line, but a basket by Keifer Dalton cut the lead to seven, followed by two free throws by Langford for a five point deficit, 53-48, with 1:32 remaining.

Monroe County kept the game a two-possession game until nine seconds remained and Dalton hit a basket to cut the lead to three points. Monroe County was immediately fouled on the inbounds pass and hit one of two to lead by four points, 61-57.

Clinton County’s next trip was unsuccessful at adding more points and Monroe County walked away with the four point win.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dalton 23

Claywell 15

Langford 12

Nelson 4

Anderson 2

England 1

Clinton County 79

Russell County 74

With a perfect 7-0 record in district play, Clinton County will be the number one seed when 16 District parings are finalized next month.

Clinton County is the only team in the district to have completed its regular season district play and now, for the boys’ side, the two, three and four seeds are still up for grabs.

The Dawgs got to 7-0 by winning both home and away contests against Metcalfe, Russell and Cumberland counties. Another win came against Metcalfe during the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic held at The Castle before Christmas although that win is not considered for the 16th District parings.

The final game to determine the seeding came Friday night at Russell County as the Dawgs defeated the Lakers, 79-74.

During the first quarter, Clinton County found itself with a 7-6 lead with 5:58 on the clock. The Dawgs finished the quarter with a 17-10 run for a 24-16 lead.

Russell County outscored Clinton County in the second quarter, but it wasn’t enough to take the lead away from the Bulldogs as Clinton County led, 40-34 at the half.

During the second half, Clinton County reached a double digit lead, 48-38, and kept the game out of reach for the Lakers during the third quarter. The Bulldogs finished three quarters with a 59-51 lead over the Lakers.

Russell County did outscore the Dawgs in the fourth quarter, 23-20, but it wasn’t enough to take the perfect district season away from Clinton County, 79-74.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dalton 33

Langford 22

Claywell 14

Means 4

McWhorter 3

England 3

Clinton County 80

Cumberland County 61

The Clinton County Bulldogs pulled off a win Tuesday night of last week against Cumberland County, 80-61, bringing its record to 12-5 on the year and a perfect 6-0 district record.

During the beginning of the game, Clinton County struggled from the floor and trailed Cumberland County by two points at the end of the first, 15-13.

The second quarter wasn’t much better for the Bulldogs as poor shooting continued to plague Clinton County, while Cumberland County’s shooting kept the Panthers in the game.

At the half, Clinton County went into the locker room with a tied ball game, 31-31.

After the 10 minutes halftime break, Clinton County regrouped and came out a different team than the one that took the floor in the first half.

The Dawgs went into a full court press and the intensity of the press led to steals and easy baskets for Clinton County.

During the first four minutes of the third period, Clinton County reached a 10 point lead, 47-37. Clinton County finished the quarter with five points compared to Cumberland County’s seven, for a 52-44 lead.

As the fourth quarter got underway, Cumberland County cut the lead to four points, 52-48, but a five point swing by Clinton County’s Dalton and Langford pushed the lead to nine points, 57-58.

Cumberland County added a basket to cut the lead to seven, but back-to-back three pointers by Langford, followed by a field goal by Nelson put the Dawgs up by 15 points in about a minute’s time, 65-50.

During the final four minutes of the game, Clinton County put up 15 more points compared to Cumberland County’s 11 for an 80-61 final. The game went Clinton County’s way much to the credit of Dalton who finished the game with 31 points, 23 of which came in the second half.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dalton 31

Langford 17

Claywell 9

Collins 6

Nelson 6

McWhorter 4

Colin Langford 3

Tallent 2

England 2

Clinton County will be back on the hard wood Friday at home against Whitley County, Saturday at Jackson County and the Dawgs will also travel to Campbellsville Monday.

Glen England drove the lane and was fouled during the second half of Monday night’s opening round of the Touchstone Energy All “A” Classic 4th Regional Tournament.