“Wow”

That was the first, single exclamatory word Clinton County Lady Bulldog head coach Darrell Thompson was seen getting out of his mouth as he left the bench and headed toward the dressing room after the cliffhanging conclusion of the varsity game against Wayne County.

That single word from Thompson came just seconds after he, and the rest of the Lady Bulldog players and staff on the floor and the bench, had just been through a seesaw contest that saw Clinton County build and lose an early double digit lead, battle nip and tuck for two more quarters of play then fall behind by as many as five points in the fourth and final period of action.

All of that came in the 31 minutes and 58 seconds of a basketball game that preceded junior guard Kayla Dicken making her spin move toward the basket and banking in a game-winning two point field goal with just 0:01.9 showing on the game clock, breaking the tied score and sending her Lady Bulldogs to victory lane with a 51-49 win.

“Wow” indeed.

Dicken’s game winning basket came from an inbounds play next to the Clinton County bench that Thompson had set up following a time-out he had called with 0:05.5 remaining on the clock.

With the obvious plan being to first try and get the basketball into the hands of Lady Bulldogs sharpshooter Ansley Stalcup for the final attempt at a win rather than an overtime period, Wayne County concentrated all of their defensive efforts toward preventing the ball from landing in the hands of the Clinton County guard.

That part of the Lady Cardinal plan worked, but the option that played out capped off not only a seesaw night for the Lady Bulldogs, but a seesaw 10 days for Dicken when her last second shot dropped through the net and set off a mid-court Clinton County celebration.

Dicken had joined with her team in celebrating a Touchstone Energy All “A” Classic 4th Region championship, followed by a first round state tournament win over Lexington Sayre in Frankfort, last week.

Next came the disappointing quarter-final loss at the hands of eventual All “A” Classic state tournament champion Covington Holy Cross, followed by Dicken learning that she had been named to the All “A” Classic All State Tournament team. Then on Sunday, she was too ill to practice and even on Monday night, just prior to the start of the game against Wayne County, Thompson made a last minute change to the planned lineup, pulling Dicken from starters and using her instead in brief stretches from the bench.

Highs and lows, highs and lows, but a ride that eventually ended in what was likely the biggest basket of her career and a high that resulted in the Lady Bulldogs leaving the floor not only in possession of the 51-49 win, but a start on the rest of the week in control of an impressive 22-4 overall record.

Monday night’s game saw the Lady Bulldogs come out with a hot shooting hand, while on the other end of the floor, the Wayne County Lady Cardinals were unable to find their shooting range at all.

While managing to hit only one of their first seven field goal attempts, Wayne County found themselves trailing Clinton County by double digits in the first quarter on scoring from Stalcup, Dicken, Allie Hopper and Macy Campbell as the Lady Bulldogs pulled out in front 14-2 before closing out that opening period on top by a score of 14-7.

Wayne County wasn’t ready to lay down and quit, however, as they began hitting from the floor with more consistency and for most of the second quarter, the Lady Bulldogs found themselves unable to stop the offensive efforts of the Lady Cardinals, that included four baskets from three point range.

Wayne County overtook the Lady Dawgs by halftime to hold a narrow one-point advantage, 28-27.

Neither team came out of the dressing room after the halftime break with much more than a lack-luster performance, with Clinton County adding seven points to its score, while the Lady Cardinals managed only a four point effort as the Lady Bulldogs pulled out in front again by two points, 34-32.

Wayne County jumped out to get the fourth quarter underway with a 7-0 run to control a 39-34 lead in the first two minutes of the period, but the Lady Dawgs, with scoring from Hopper, Dicken, and Stalcup tied the score at 47-47 when eighth grade reserve guard Joelie Hicks scored on a put-back basket with 1:10 showing on the clock to give Clinton County the lead, 49-47.

Wayne County’s final field goal tied the score with 0:55 showing, and the Lady Bulldogs worked off the final seconds from the game clock to set up that last game-winning play after Thompson’s time-out.

Thompson’s single-word description of how those final 5.5 seconds played out for his Lady Bulldogs likely wasn’t the only use of that same word after the buzzer had sounded with Clinton County on top 51-49.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Stalcup 22

Dicken 10

Hicks 6

Hopper 5

McWhorter 5

Campbell 3

The Clinton County Lady Bulldogs improved its record to 22-4 during last week’s trip to the All “A” Classic State Tournament and for Monday night’s win against Wayne County, 51-49.

Even though the Lady Dawgs lost in the quarterfinals of the tourney to Covington Holy Cross, which was the eventual champions of the small school tournament, Clinton County picked up some valuable lessons from the two-game experience thus improving its record.

Clinton County 46

Covington Holy Cross 60

Ranked in the top 15 statewide, Covington Holy Cross was the favorite to win the All “A” Classic last week and Sunday afternoon, Holy Cross eventually took first place honors by defeating Murray, 47-46.

Two games before its championship game, Holy Cross met up with the Lady Dawgs.

Clinton County got off to a rocky start in the first quarter as Holy Cross caught fire from the three point line, hitting five in the first quarter and taking a commanding lead after the first eight minutes, 21-9.

Both teams struggled on offense during the second quarter, but it was Holy Cross keeping Clinton County at bay on defense.

The Lady Indians held Clinton County scoreless until the 4:05 mark when Kayla Dicken made a field goal, 27-11.

Dicken score the next four points, one field goal and two free throws, to cut the lead to 12 points at the 2:38 mark.

Holy Cross then extended its lead to 14, 29-15, on a made field goal with 2:2 remaining in the half.

The Lady Indians would score a field goal to finish the half with a 31-15 lead.

Clinton County came out in the second half with a little fire under them as they quickly cut the lead to 11 points in the first minute and a half, but a 12-0 run by Holy Cross saw the Lady Indians take a 23 point lead with 3:32 on the clock, 43-20.

Clinton County finished the quarter with a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 18 at the end of the third, 47-29.

During the final quarter, Clinton County played with a little more intensity than the previous quarters, outscoring Holy Cross 17-13 in the final eight minutes.

Clinton County only got as close as the final score indicated and was put out of the All “A” Classic with the 60-46 loss.

The Lady Dawgs shot 27 percent from the floor on 12-44 shooting, including 5-10 from the three point line. From the foul line, Clinton County hit 17 of 24 for 70.8 percent.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dicken 15

Stalcup 15

McWhorter 7

Hicks 6

Collins 2

Boils 1

Clinton County 47

Sayre 28

The Lady Dawgs won its first game of the All “A” Classic against Lexington Sayre Wednesday with a final of 47-28.

Clinton County started off slow in the first quarter in what looked like would be a battle until the end.

With 2:01 on the clock, both teams were tied at six points each and Sayre actually took the lead, 8-6, but Dicken made back-to-back baskets for a two point lead, 10-8 with 1:04 on the clock and Ansley Stalcup finished the quarter with a field goal with four seconds remaining for a first quarter lead, 12-8.

During the second quarter, it was Clinton County’s defense making a stand, allowing Sayre to score only four points during the eight-minute period.

At the half, Clinton County had jumped out to a 24-12 lead against the Lady Spartans.

During the second half, it was more of the same from the Lady Dawgs as Clinton County outscored Sayre 13-9 and adding to its first half lead.

At the 3:02 mark, Clinton County grabbed its largest lead of the game, 37-19.

Sayre would score again to cut the lead to 16 points with 2:45 remaining in the quarter, but neither team would score again in the period, 37-21 Lady Dawgs’ lead.

Clinton County would keep in control for the remainder of the game, grabbing a 21 point lead with 1:54 remaining, 47-26.

Sayre would finish with one more basket to end the game with the 47-28 final.

The Lady Dawgs shot 31.6 percent from the floor, including one of eight from the three point line.

From the foul line, the Lady Dawgs shot an unusual 56.3 percent on nine of 16 from the foul line.

Clinton County finished the game with 12 steals as a team and only 11 turnovers.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Stalcup 16

Dicken 15

Hicks 8

Campbell 6

Boils 2

The Lady Dawgs will host Glasgow Friday, February 6, 6 p.m. at The Castle

Friday night is also scheduled to be Sweetheart Night as well as a “Pink Out” night to support those fighting cancer.

Macy Campbell held on to the ball during Clinton County’s game against Sayre Wednesday during the first round of the All “A” Classic State Tournament. Campbell finished with six points.

Kayla Dicken put up a shot during Clinton County’s quarterfinals game against Covington Holy Cross Friday. Dicken finished with 15 points during the 60-46 loss and was selected the All “A” Classic State All Tournament Team.

Joelie Hicks found herself surrounded during Clinton County’s first game of the All “A” Classic State Tournament against Sayre. The Lady Dawgs won the game, 47-28 and moved on to the quarter finals against Holy Cross. Hicks finished with eight points.