The Clinton County Bulldogs won the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic last week, but the battle for Clinton County was a tough one.

As reported in last week’s edition, Clinton County won its first game of the tournament against Grant County, 67-55.

On Tuesday of last week, Clinton County took on a familiar opponent in Metcalfe County. The Dawgs defeated the Hornets on their home floor not two week’s ago, but Metcalfe County’s hot shooting from the floor saw the Hornets take the victory, 63-56.

Later that night, the Dawgs went up against one of the better teams in the tournament, Christian Academy-Louisville and defeated them, 52-45.

On Wednesday of last week, the Dawgs faced Anderson County in the final game of the tournament and won by a final score of 62-44, giving them enough points throughout the tournament to claim the first place trophy.

Clinton County also traveled to Powell County to play in the Red River Classic. During the first game for the Dawgs, Clinton County defeated Estill County, 58-43, moving its record to 7-5 on the year.

Clinton County 58

Estill County 43

Clinton County traveled to Powell County Monday to play in the Red River Classic. During the first game, Clinton County took on Estill County and came out with the win, 58-43.

During the first quarter, Estill County took a three point lead by the end of the eight-minute period, 15-12.

Clinton County showed up to play during the second quarter by scoring 18 points and holding Estill County to only three to take a 30-18 lead at the half.

The Dawgs remained in control during the third period by posting 12 points compared to Estill County’s 11 for a 42-29 advantage.

The Bulldogs coasted in the fourth quarter and scored 16 points while Estill County put up 14. The Bulldogs won by a final score of 58-43.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

M. Collins 13

Summers 13

Langford 13

Gibson 6

Choate 4

Smith 4

Hadley 2

Harlan 2

Brown 1

Clinton County 62

Anderson County 44

In the first quarter, Clinton County got off to a quick start against Anderson County, but that start was deflated as Anderson County took the lead with 2:50 on the clock, 9-7.

The Dawgs then put together a 7-3 run to finish the quarter with a 16-12 lead.

Colin Langford hit the first basket of the second quarter, followed by a free throw to give the Dawgs a 19-12 lead.

Anderson County then came back and got to within one point of the lead, 19-18, but a basket and a free throw by Jamison Summers put the Dawgs up by four points with more than half the quarter remaining, 22-18.

For the remainder of the half, Clinton County managed to stay ahead of Anderson County and finished the first half with a 28-24 lead.

At the start of the second half, Clinton County continued to keep Anderson County at arms length and it took the entire quarter to score only 12 points and grab a nine point lead, 40-31.

During the final period, the Bulldogs grabbed a 10 point lead at the 6:01 mark, but Anderson County quickly came back and scored a three pointer to cut the lead to seven, 43-36.

Clinton County scored its next four point from the free throw line to put the Dawgs back up by eight points, 47-39 with 4:40 on the clock.

Anderson County scored off an inbounds steal to get back in the game with ample time on the clock for a comeback.

What Anderson County didn’t count on was the hot shooting hand of Michael Collins who buried two three pointers almost a minute apart, in addition to a free throw by Kyle Choate, for a 7-0 run to put Clinton County up by 13 points with 3:12 on the clock.

The Dawgs tried to run the clock out from that point, but offensively Anderson County couldn’t make it happen as the Dawgs won the game and the tournament with the 62-44 win.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Langford 16

Summers 13

M. Collins 9

Brown 8

Choate 5

Smith 4

Harlan 4

Gibson 3

Clinton County 52

CAL 45

Clinton County faced Christian Academy-Louisville in the second game of the day on Tuesday. CAL was considered one of the better teams in the tournament and Clinton County Coach Todd Messer knew if his team was to win their own tournament, a win against CAL was mandatory.

During the first quarter, Clinton County got off to a rocky start and CAL took the lead, 7-6, with 4:06 on the clock.

CAL extended its lead with a three pointer, but Clinton County cut the lead to two points on a basket by Langford, 10-8.

Both teams went back and forth for the remainder of the period, with CAL finishing on top, 15-12.

The second quarter saw both teams battling, but CAL still remained in control of the game. With the score 24-18 in favor of CAL, the final 3:30 of the half was spent on CAL dribbling the ball and running the clock down. During the last 20 seconds, Eli Brown fouled on a shot to send CAL to the line to hit one of two for a 25-18 lead.

Summers was fouled on Clinton County’s last attempt in the half, but missed the free throws to go into the locker room down by seven.

The third quarter went much the same way for Clinton County as the Bulldogs came out of the locker room cold and unable to score.

CAL reached a 13 point lead at the 3:10 mark, 35-22, but a small burst of energy to finish the quarter saw Clinton County cut the lead back to seven as the quarter ended, 35-28.

During the fourth quarter, CAL continued to control the game, but Clinton County cut the lead to six points with 4:10 on the clock, 41-35.

At that point, a technical foul was handed out to a CAL player, sending Summers to the line for four shots, including two from the personal foul. Summers hit all four shots to cut the lead to two points, 41-39.

Summers also hit another free throw at the 3:41 mark to cut the lead to one point.

Clinton County grabbed its first lead of the game since the first quarter on a basket by Summers, 42-41.

From that point on, Clinton County, with the help from a overly loud hometown crowd, played like they had a chance to win.

CAL went up on the Dawgs with 2:12 on the clock, 45-42, but a drive by Summers cut the lead back to one for the Dawgs, 45-44.

With the clock winding down, CAL tried to dribble the clock away as they did in the first half, but a foul by Kyle Choate stopped the clock with 1:13 remaining.

A missed free throw was grabbed by Clinton County and with a minute remaining, Summers made a basket to take the lead, 46-45.

Summers was then fouled sending him to the line where he hit two free throws to extend the lead, 48-45.

With 40 seconds remaining, Summers was again sent to the line where he hit one of two. CAL’s attempt to score failed and Clinton County grabbed the rebound. CAL fouled Summers, sending him to the line again where he made both for a 52-45 lead with nine seconds remaining. That score would end up being the final for the game as Clinton County came back from 13 points down to take the seven point victory, 52-45.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Summers 28

Gibson 9

Smith 8

Langford 6

Choate 2

Clinton County 56

Metcalfe County 63

The only loss in the tournament came at the hands of 16th District rival Metcalfe County, 63-56.

Clinton County struggled from the floor during the first quarter and with the hot shooting hands of Metcalfe County, the Dawgs couldn’t find a answer.

With both teams going back and forth for most of the first quarter, Metcalfe County jumped out to a six point lead with 2:10 on the clock, 16-10.

The Hornets hit four three pointers during the first six minutes of the game and Clinton County struggled to gain control.

As the first quarter ended, Clinton County fell behind, 20-14.

The second quarter saw life in the Bulldogs as Clinton County quickly put together an 8-2 run to tie the game at 22 with 5:40 remaining in the half.

Clinton County grabbed a four point lead, 30-26, but Metcalfe County tied the score at 30 with 2:42 remaining in the period.

Both teams went back and forth for the final three minutes, but Metcalfe County took the lead again on a three pointer, 35-32, followed by two free throws for a 37-32 lead.

Clinton County’s Brett Gibson hit a three pointer with 25 seconds remaining in the half to end the scoring in the second quarter with the Dawgs down by two points, 37-35.

The third quarter went much as the first half went for the Bulldogs as Clinton County found it difficult to stop Metcalfe on offense.

The closest Clinton County got to taking the lead was only two points during the third period. The Dawgs finished the quarter with a deficit of six points as the quarter ended, 51-45.

Clinton County’s cold night of offense led to the defeat as the Bulldogs never regained control of the game. At one point during the final period, the Dawgs did manage to get to within one point of Metcalfe County, 55-54, but it wasn’t until late in the period.

Metcalfe County then hit back-to-back field goals to put the Hornets up by five points, 59-54.

Langford hit two foul shots with 1:08 on the clock and that would be the last time Clinton County would score in the game as Metcalfe County added four points to the board to reach the final score, 63-56.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Langford 27

Gibson 11

Summers 9

M. Collins 3

Choate 2

York 2

Harlan 2

Clinton County will be in action this week at the Red River Classic in Powell County.

Tuesday’s game consisted of Jackson County, followed by Lee County on Wednesday of this week. Game score and highlights of those games will be in next week’s edition of the Clinton County News.