The Clinton County Lady Bulldogs have managed to get the 2014-15 basketball season off to a fantastic start, dispatching their first three opponents on the schedule in exemplary fashion to get the year off and running with a 3-0 record.

In the process, the Lady Bulldogs have picked up all three of their victories by double-digit winning spreads, including a win last Saturday night over Warren East that saw the game ending with the “mercy rule” in effect as the Lady Dawgs cruised to a 32 point win over the Lady Raiders,, 65-33.

The first two victories in the season included a season opening 52-42 win over the Lady Rebels of Casey County last Tuesday night and the team’s only road game this season thusfar, a 44-32 victory over Franklin-Simpson last Friday night.

Clinton County – 65

Warren East – 33

Clinton County’s Lady Bulldogs most recent basketball win of this still young campaign saw the team get off to a somewhat slow start but ended with a more than make-up-for-it finish with a “mercy rule” running clock finish and a 65-33 win for the girls in blue.

Coach Darrell Thompson’s squad was somewhat slow in the opening minutes of the second contest this season on the local hardwood, as the Lady Raiders of Warren East jumped out to control an early lead on two quick baskets in the first minute of the game, 4-0.

Like a splash of cold water in the face had awakened them suddenly, the Lady Dawgs jumped to life in the remaining seven minutes of that opening quarter, with center Allie Hopper first putting Clinton County’s offensive effort into action with a three point play at the 6:00 mark to put her team within a single point of the Lady Raiders early on.

Additional scoring from Kayla Dicken, Ansley Stalcup, Joelie Hicks as well as Hopper saw Clinton County grab the lead mid-way through that opening quarter and sprint out to an 18-6 advantage late in the period.

Warren East finished the quarter with four unanswered points but still trailed by eight points going into the second quarter, 18-10.

Bree Boils was quick to score for Clinton County as the second quarter got underway, dropping in a field goal just 10 seconds after the period began, and another field goal from Hicks stretched the Lady Bulldog lead out to 12 points, 22-10, with less than a minute having expired from the clock.

Clinton County continued to dominate the Lady Raiders on both ends of the floor, preventing Warren East from scoring effectively, while at the same time managing to outscore their opponent by more than a 2-1 margin in the remainder of the first half.

The Lady Dawgs went to the dressing room at halftime in control of a 19 point margin, 35-16.

It was Stalcup who gave Clinton County its first lead in excess of 20 points on a field goal just 14 seconds into the second half of action, which was followed by two free throws tossed in by Macy Campbell, and from that point on, the Lady Dawgs were more or less in cruise control mode.

Even scoring from Clinton County during the period resulted in the Lady Dawgs stretching its lead out to 26 points as the game entered the final eight minute quarter, 50-24.

Clinton County’s offensive efforts in the final quarter were centered around guard Shyanne McWhorter for the most part, who had been scoreless up to that final period of play, but tossed in all of her nine points for the night during the last eight minutes.

In fact it was McWhorter’s field goal with just under three minutes remaining to be played that put the Lady Bulldogs up by the 35 points that put the “mercy rule” into effect and saw the final minutes of action being played with a running clock.

Clinton County eventually picked up the third victory of its season by a 32 point margin with a final score of 65-33.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Stalcup 20

Hicks 14

Hopper 12

McWhorter 9

Dicken 4

Boils 3

Campbell 2

A. Roberts 1

Clinton County – 44

Franklin-Simpson – 32

Clinton County’s first victory on the road this season came in their first road game that took the Lady Bulldogs to the far western boundary of the 4th Region where they took on the Lady Wildcats of Franklin-Simpson.

With a 12 point win over the Lady Cats, the 44-32 victory saw Clinton County in control of the lead from wire to wire and at one point stretching out to a 17 point advantage in the third quarter.

Clinton County’s first points came from the free throw line on a couple of game-starting points by guard Shyanne McWhorter to set the Lady Dawg offensive attack off and running.

Both teams seemed to be struggling in the early minutes of action in the area of shot accuracy, with good shots being fired on both ends of the floor, but failing to find the target.

Still, Clinton County finished the first quarter out in front with an 8-4 lead.

The Lady Dawgs added only nine points to their score during the second quarter, but at the same time held the Lady Cats to only a single point to end the first half in control of a 12 point lead, 17-5.

Both squads improved on shot accuracy as the second half got underway, but it was the Lady Bulldogs that had the most success offensively in the quarter.

Clinton County ran out to a 30-13 lead at one point in the quarter before the Lady Wildcats closed the period down on a 4-0 run to pull back to within 13 points going into the fourth and final quarter, 30-17.

The final eight minutes of action was nearly an equal effort offensively, with Clinton County being outscored by only a single point as the Lady Bulldogs sealed the victory with a 12 point spread, 44-32

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Stalcup 18

Hopper 8

Campbell 6

Dicken 4

McWhorter 4

Boils 2

Hicks 2

Clinton County – 52

Casey County – 42

The Clinton County Lady Bulldogs played host to Casey County in Tuesday’s home opener. In what has been predicted as a surprising year for the Lady Dawgs, Clinton County muscled up and took the first win of the season, 52-42.

It was a slow start Tuesday night and most of the first quarter could be chalked up to first game jitters, however, Clinton County took control of the game early and made Casey County play catch up the entire night.

At the end of the first quarter, Clinton County led the Lady Rebels 13-8, with several Lady Dawgs contributing early on.

Sophomore Bree Boils knocked down four free throws in the first quarter, Allie Hopper had a couple of baskets followed by a basket by Ansley Stalcup and a free throw by Shyanne McWhorter.

During the second quarter, at the 5:20 mark, Clinton County reached a 10 point lead, 21-11.

The Lady Dawgs continued to maintain control of the game and with both Hopper and Kayla Dicken running the floor, Clinton County went into the locker room at halftime with a 29-17 advantage.

As the third quarter began, Clinton County maintained the same pace shown in the first half. The Lady Dawgs would nearly match Casey County point for point, keeping the Lady Rebels at arms length.

By the end of the period, Clinton County continued to lead the game, 39-28.

During the first minute of the fourth quarter, Casey County knocked down two free throws to cut the lead to nine points, 39-30.

Hopper made a field goal at the 7:10 mark to push the Lady Dawgs’ lead back to 11 points, but that would be the last time Clinton County would score in more than three minutes of play.

Casey County put together a run up to the 3:40 mark when the Lady Rebels cut the lead to one on a 10-0 run, 41-40.

Clinton County quickly answered with a basket by Dicken to push the lead out to three points, 43-40.

In order to secure the win, Clinton County had to use the clock to its advantage. From the two minute mark to the one minute mark, Clinton County held the ball with Boils headed to the foul line with 1:06 remaining. Boils hit two of two to grab a five point lead.

The next trip down the floor, Casey County missed a layup and gave Clinton County control of the ball. Once again, Boils was sent to the line after being fouled to stop the clock, hitting two of two for a seven point advantage with less than a minute of play, 47-40.

With seconds ticking away, Clinton County remained strong from the foul line, hitting nine of 10 in the final minutes. This proved to be the deciding factor in the game, as Clinton County held on to win by 10 points, 52-42.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Stalcup 16

Boils 11

Hopper 10

Dicken 7

Campbell 6

McWhorter 2

The next portion of the schedule for the Lady Bulldogs saw them facing the highly touted Lady Falcons of Monroe County on Tuesday night at home. They were slated to host the Lady Hornets in the Lindle Castle Gymnasium on Friday night for the first matchup of the season against a 16th District opponent. Both of those games are with 6:00 p.m. tip-offs.

On Saturday night the team boards the bus for a trip to Bowling Green and an afternoon game against Greenwood with a 3:00 p.m. tipoff. All three of these next games are double-header nights with the Bulldogs.

Ansley Stalcup drove the lane during the first half in Tuesday’s home opener against Casey County. The Lady Dawgs won the game, 52-42, with Stalcup finishing with 16 points.