Dawgs hit three game winning streak, 3-3

The Clinton County Bulldogs moved to 4-4 on the year after this week’s action on the hardwood.

Clinton County hosted Cumberland County Tuesday night at The Castle that resulted in a 69-44 win over the Panthers.

Friday night, Clinton County traveled to Russell County to wrap up the first round of games for the district competition. Clinton County lost the contest, 74-65, which is the only loss thus far in district play for the Bulldogs.

Russell County has yet to play every team in the district as of Monday of this week, however, they have played two games, picking up victories in both.

The Bulldogs also began the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic Monday night with it’s first game against Grant County. The Bulldogs came out with a win 67-55.

Clinton County 67

Grant County 55

The Bulldogs opened its holiday season Monday night at The Castle to take on Grant County in the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic. Grant County opened the game with a basket, but Clinton County then scored eight unaswered points to take a 10-2 lead with 5:30 on the clock.

Both teams traded three pointers and the game was off to a fast pace.

Grant County cut the lead on a three pointer, 13-8, but a basket by Kyle Choate put the Dawgs up by seven points, 15-8, with more than a minute remaining in the quarter.

Both teams finished the quarter with a three point basket to for an 18-11 finish to the first quarter with the Dawgs on top.

Grant County added some points quick in the second quarter and cut the Dawgs’ lead to three points. Clinton County’s Eli Brown checked into the game for the first time this season at the 6:21 mark. Brown has been on the injured list since he broke his collar bone during football season.

Clinton County continued to stay in control of the game during the second quarter, keeping Grant County at arms length and took a nine point lead heading into the locker room at half time, 35-26.

Clinton County came out of the locker room after halftime and hit a cold spirt from the floor. Grant County, on the other hand, went three for three and added six quick points to cut the lead to three at the 6:18 mark, 35-32.

Clinton County then put together an 11-2 run for a 46-34 lead with 1:31 on the clock.

Clinton County finished the quarter with one basket while Grant County scored two to end the third with the Dawgs up 48-40.

During the fourth quarter, Clinton County got back to a 10 point lead on a basket by Jamison Summers at the 7:10 mark, 50-40.

Colin Langford hit a basket to put the Dawgs up by 12, followed by two free throws by Brown for a 14 point lead, 54-40.

Grant County hit back-to-back three pointers to cut the lead to six points with 4:40 remaining in the game.

During the fourth quarter, a shoving match erupted on the floor that resulted in two double technicals, that cancelled each other out, and a personal foul on a Grant County player sending Summers to the line for two foul shots. Summers hit one of two to extend the lead to seven, 55-48.

At the 2:33 mark, Grant County had put together a 12-1 run to cut the Dawgs’ lead to three points, 55-52. With two minutes remaining in the game, Brett Gibson hit a three pointer, followed by a free throw by Langford to extend the lead back to seven, 59-52.

During the final two minutes, Clinton County held on and stay true on defense, only allowing Grant County to score three points, while putting up eight to secure the win, 67-55.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Gibson 18

Summers 16

Langford 11

Choate 6

M. Collins 5

Smith 5

Brown 4

Harlan 2

Clinton County 65

Russell County 74

Clinton County’s game against Russell County is always a crowd pleaser with the ongoing rivalry. Friday night’s game didn’t disappoint the fans as both team battled throughout the entire game.

Both teams handled the ball really well, picking up six turnovers each for the 32 minutes of play.

Clinton County found themselves down early by seven points in the first quarter, 24-17 and were down 45-33 at halftime.

Russell County was hot from behind the three point line in the first half, hitting nine of 19 for 47 percent.

During the third quarter, Clinton County made up some ground by outscoring the Lakers, 17-13 for a 58-47 score. Russell County held on in the final period and outscored the Dawgs by one point in the final eight minutes, 16-15, for a final of 74-65.

Russell County won the rebounding battle, 28-23 and shot 55 percent from the floor, compared to Clinton County’s 40 percent from the field.

From the foul line, Russell County hit seven of 12 while Clinton County was four of four. Russell County had 16 assists for the game compared to Clinton County’s nine.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Summers 25

Langford 20

Gibson 8

M. Collins 6

Smith 4

Choate 2

Clinton County 69

Cumberland County 44

Clinton County’s game against Cumberland County started off much like the Dawgs’ matchup against Metcalfe County more than a week ago. Both teams started off slow, but it was Clinton County that put points on the board first, 4-0. Cumberland County tied the score at four, but Clinton County finished out the quarter on an 8-0 run to extend the lead to six, 12-4, with 1:20 remaining. Cumberland County then added five points for a first quarter score 12-9.

During the second quarter, Clinton County picked up the pace somewhat, but not before Cumberland County cut the lead to two points, 12-10.

Chad Smith added three baskets himself to put the Dawgs up by eight, 18-10, but at the 5:10 mark, Cumberland County hit a field goal to cut the lead back to six points, 18-12.

Jamision Summers hit one of two from the foul line at the 4:55 mark for a 19-15 lead, but Cumberland County hit three free throws to cut the lead to four points, 19-15, midway through the quarter.

Both teams then started to put points on the board, but every time the Dawgs would extend the lead to nine, Cumberland County would fight back and cut it to four.

With 28 seconds remaining in the half, Summers hit two from the line to push the lead to six points, 32-26. Cumberland County hit a shot with four seconds on the clock to cut the lead to four points at the half, 32-28.

During the second half, Clinton County came out on a mission and quickly put together a 12-4 run to reach a 44-32 lead with 3:10 on the clock.

The Dawgs held Cumberland County to only three points for the remainder of the period to take a 48-35 lead after the third quarter.

During the final quarter, Clinton County continued to remain in control. The Bulldogs stayed strong on defense and put up points on offense.

With less than six minutes remaining in the game, Clinton County grabbed a 21 point lead on a three pointer by Colin Langford, 59-38.

Clinton County coasted for the remainder of the game, only allowing Cumberland County six points while putting up 10 for a 69-44 win.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Langford 18

M. Collins 17

Summers 17

Smith 6

Choate 4

J. Collins 3

York 2

Gibson 2

Clinton County will be back in action on December 28 at the Red River Classic at Powell County against Estill County with a 5:30 p.m. tip off time.

Kyle Choate put up a shot during Tuesday night’s game against Cumberland County at The Castle. Clinton County won the game, 69-44, moving its district record to 2-1, after Friday night’s game against Russell County.