The Clinton County Lady Bulldogs saw the 2015-16 injury laden season come to a heartbreaking end Monday night in the opening round of the post-season 16th District Tournament in a 48-32 loss at the hands of top-seeded Russell County Lady Lakers.

The loss Monday night in Russell County closed out Clinton County’s year with a 3-26 mark, after a year that saw player after player become sidelined during the course of the year, with as many as five key players suffering debilitating knee injuries.

However, as the crowd of Clinton County fans seated behind the Lady Bulldog bench Monday night will attest to, the injuries that have plagued the team all season long certainly didn’t quell their drive or their desire when they went up against the Lady Lakers.

Clinton County head coach Darrell Thompson obviously had a game plan in place for Monday night, and for the most part, the attack worked, taking the Lady Lakers off their pace and making them look uncomfortable, while the Lady Dawgs were afforded a host of good looks at the goal and high percentage shots throughout the opening minutes of the contest.

“Most part” being the key portion of that summary, Thompson might have been able to put the Xs and Os in place on the board, but what he couldn’t do was make those open shots and good looks actually go through the net.

“Down in the goal, round and round and out and rims off” occurred more often throughout the night for Clinton County’s hard attacking Lady Bulldogs than shots going through the net and points being added to the scoreboard.

Clinton County fell behind early in the contest, despite those good looks and open shots, as the Lady Lakers built up a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game Monday night, and by the end of that opening quarter, Russell County had pulled out to an eight point advantage, 13-2.

Most of the scoring in the second quarter was from the free throw line for the Lady Lakers, as Clinton County managed to put only two points on the board during the quarter from an Allie Hopper field goal with just 1:44 remaining that was the first score from the floor for either team during the quarter.

Russell County closed out the first half in control of a 15 point advantage after putting in a buzzer beating three point basket that had been preceded by six made free throws.

The Lady Bulldogs continued to fall behind as the second quarter got underway, but they never lost sight of their goal of the evening, and midway through that third quarter of action, the blue and white Clinton County rally hats came out.

Trailing by 19 points, 35-16 near the half-way mark of that third quarter, the Lady Dawgs came storming back with a 10-0 run to close out that third quarter of play trailing by only nine points, 35-26.

With the support of the nearby Lady Bulldogs’ fans behind them, Clinton County continued to hang tough as the fourth and final quarter of action played out, but facing a nine digit deficit against a very talented Lady Laker squad simply proved too much for the Lady Dawgs to overcome.

Trailing by only 11 points with just over three minutes remaining in the game, the comeback hope simply faded away with each second that expired from the game clock as the Lady Lakers dropped in the final five points to end the contest with a 16 point victory, 48-32.

The Lady Lakers advanced to the 16th District championship game where they will face the winner of Tuesday night’s opening round game between Metcalfe County and Cumberland County. That championship game is set for Thursday night with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Hopper 15

Campbell 9

Boils 6

Polston 2

Clinton County 34

Barren County 72

The Clinton County Lady Dawgs moved to 3-25 on the year after this week’s loss to Barren County on Thursday night, 72-34.

Barren County took control early in the game and never really looked back.

Clinton County scored three points in the first quarter while Barren County put up 15 during the eight minute period.

The Lady Dawgs managed only one field goal in the first quarter, by Macy Campbell, at the 2:50 mark.

Barren County continued to add points to the board in the second quarter as the Lady Dawgs couldn’t find an answer to Barren County’s play.

By halftime, Clinton County found themselves trailing 35-18.

The third quarter went much the same as Barren County scored at will. The Lady Trojans added 20 points to the quarter while the Lady Dawgs put up eight for a 55-26 score at the end of three.

During the fourth quarter, Barren County continued to put points on the board. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Dawgs added another loss to its record, 72-34.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Campbell 10

Langford 9

Hopper 5

Stockton 3

Collins 3

Dicken 2

Sampson 2

Clinton County Lady Bulldog Allie Hopper watched her shot attempt head toward the basket Monday night in the opening round of the 16th District Tournament, as Russell County Lady Laker Kaitlyn Coffey fell to the floor. Clinton County lost the opening round tourney game 48-32, ending the 2015-16 season. Hopper led the Lady Dawgs with 15 points.

Clinton County Lady Bulldog Macy Campbell went into an intense battle Monday night as she battled Russell County’s Kaitlyn Coffey for a loose ball underneath the Clinton County goal. Clinton County saw their season end in the first round game of the 16th District Tournament after losing the battle 48-32, despite a valiant second half comeback rally.