The Bulldogs will advance to the finals of the 16th District Tournament Friday night and, win or lose, will play next week in the 4th Region Tournament held at Barren County.

Clinton County’s opponent for Friday night is yet to be determined as of press deadline Tuesday, but the Dawgs will play the winner of Tuesday night’s game between Cumberland County and Russell County.

Monday night’s win against Metcalfe County in the first round gave the Dawgs its 21st win of the season as well as seeing Colby Langford move into the elite 1,500 point club. Langford finished the night with 15 points for the game and 1,501 for his career.

Monday night’s game got off to a slow start for the Dawgs, but its defense proved worthy in the first quarter, outscoring Metcalfe County 15-11 after one.

A scoring drought that started with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter continued well into the second quarter as Metcalfe County put together a 12-0 run to take a six point lead with 6:14 remaining in the half, 21-15.

Metcalfe’s run ended with a basket by Cole Nelson with 5:45 on the clock. Clinton County put together 21-6 run to finish out the half and take a 38-27 halftime lead.

Clinton County remained in control for the rest of the game, however, Metcalfe County did put together an 8-2 run to finish the third quarter, but that offensive spurt only put the Hornets within 16 points, 56-40, at the end of the quarter.

The Bulldogs scored 27 in the final period compared to 17 for the Hornets to reach an 83-57 victory and advance to the finals Friday night.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dalton 21

Claywell 19

Langford 15

McWhorter 6

Nelson 6

England 5

Means 4

Colin Langford 3

Anderson 2

Tallent 2

Double OT

Clinton County 82

Barren County 80

The Clinton County Bulldogs pulled off yet another impressive win last week that resulted in two extra periods being played to determine the winner.

Down by 15 at the start of the third quarter against Barren County, the Dawgs fought back and tied the game to move into overtime. However, one overtime wasn’t enough. The Bulldogs went to a second overtime before coming out with the 20th win of its season, 82-80.

Before the game started, at the 5:01 mark during warm ups, Barren County officials called for an immediate evacuation of the gym. Severe thunderstorms had moved into the area and to be on the safe side, everyone in the gym was moved to the hall way until the storm passed.

As the threat of the storm declined, Clinton County took the floor and kept the game close during the first period.

The Bulldogs scored 15 points in the first quarter, led by Keifer Dalton with eight points, Colby Langford scored a bucket and Lance Claywell knocked down a three pointer and a two point field goal.

Barren County led the game at the end of the first, 16-15.

During the second quarter, both teams struggled from the floor with Clinton County putting up only 10 points, compared to Barren County’s 11 for a 27-25 lead over the Dawgs at the half.

The third quarter is where Barren County really excelled, putting up 21 quarter points to the Dawgs’ 10. The Trojans led Clinton County 48-35 at the end of the period.

With almost all hope lost, Clinton County started to come to life.

During the fourth quarter, Clinton County’s Dalton and Langford combined for 31 of the total 33 points scored in the period.

This lift was all Clinton County needed in order to tie the game at 68 by the end of regulation. Barren County put up only 20 points during the fourth quarter.

Moving into the first overtime period, tied at 68, both teams were matching each other point for point.

With 1:03 remaining in the first overtime, Clinton County’s Cole Nelson hit one of two from the foul line to tie the game.

Barren County came back and took a two point lead on the next possession.

With 30 seconds on the clock, Chance McWhorter hit a basket to tied the game at 76 and with the failed possession by Barren County, the game went into a second overtime, 76-76.

During the second overtime, Clinton County again matched Barren County point for point and with the game tied at 80 and 1:13 on the clock, the Dawgs held the ball for the final shot. With 8.1 remaining, Langford hit the go-ahead basket to give the Dawgs the two point lead. With plenty of time remaining for Barren County to get a shot, all efforts to tie or take the lead for the Trojans failed and as the buzzer sounded, Clinton County was on top, 82-80.

The team’s double overtime win came at the conclusion of the regular season and moved the team to 20-7 on the year.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Langford 35

Dalton 27

Claywell 13

McWhorter 4

England 2

Nelson 1

Colby Langford scored his 1,500th career point Monday night in the first round of the 16th District Tournament on this free throw late in the second half. He finished the game with 15 points.

Cole Nelson went up for a shot during the first half against Metcalfe County in the opening round of the 16th District Tournament held at The Castle. Nelson finished with six points on the night.