The Clinton County Bulldogs were named the 2016 Twin Lakes Holiday Classic Champions Wednesday after picking up four straight wins in the tournament.

In last week’s edition, as reported, Clinton County defeated York Institute in the opening game of the tournament, 78-49.

The Dawgs went on to win both games in Tuesday, against Monterey and Nelson County, and picked up the final win on Wednesday against South Warren to claim the championship trophy.

This week, the Dawgs were in Edmonson County for a holiday tournament. Clinton County won the first game of the tourney against Barren County on Monday night, 53-50.

Clinton County 53

Barren County 50

The Bulldogs traveled to Edmonson County this week for a three day holiday tournament.

In the first game, its opponent, Barren County, nearly took the Bulldogs down. The game had the Dawgs playing catch-up nearly the entire 32 minutes, but then a Big Blue Storm hit the Trojans in the final quarter.

The Dawgs took charge, executing flawlessly to take the lead and hold it until the final buzzer.

During the first quarter, the Dawgs led the Trojans 13-9, however, a second quarter retaliation by Barren County saw Clinton County trail by two at the half, 24-22.

During the third quarter, the Dawgs scored only 12 points to Barren County’s 13 to trail by three points at the end of three, 37-34.

It was in the final quarter when Clinton County started to take control of the game. The Dawgs outscored Barren County 19-13 which proved to be the deciding factor of the game. The Dawgs won by a final score of 53-50 and move to 10-3 on the year.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Gibson 15

Harlan 13

Summers 12

Langford 11

Choate 2

Clinton County took on host Edmonson County on Tuesday and played Ohio County on Wednesday. Those games were too late for press deadline and will be in next week’s editon of the Clinton County News.

Clinton County 58

South Warren 36

Wednesday’s championship game of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic saw Clinton County keeping the trophy in its own trophy case, winning all four games in the tournament.

The Dawgs started off Wednesday’s game on fire with five straight points by Jackson Harlan, 5-0.

South Warren scored a three pointer to cut the lead to two points, but a basket by Colin Langford pushed the lead to four points, 7-3.

The first quarter ended with the Dawgs grabbing an eight point lead and Harlan scoring 13 of Clinton County’s 15 first quarter points, 15-7.

The second quarter went much the same way for the Dawgs as Clinton County controlled the tempo of the game.

Harlan scored one of two from the line to open the quarter, followed by a basket by Kyle Choate. Brett Gibson then hit a three pointer at the 4:42 mark to lead, 21-7.

South Warren finally scored for the first time in the period at the 4:30 mark to cut the lead to 12 points, 21-9.

Clinton County finished the quarter with two free throws from Jamison Summers, a three pointer by Gibson and a free throw by Harlan for a 27-15 halftime lead.

South Warren opened the third quarter with one free throw, but Clinton County’s Gibson hit a three pointer and a field goal for a 32-16 lead. South Warren scored four straight points to cut the lead to 11, but a field goal by Gibson put the Dawgs back on top by 13 points.

South Warren scored at the 3:23 mark and that would be the final time the Spartans would score in the period.

Clinton County added six more points to the board to finish the quarter with a 40-23 lead.

The Dawgs remained in control during the fourth quarter and finished the game scoring 18 points in the period. South Warren scored 13, but that wasn’t enough to keep the tournament title away from the Dawgs, as Clinton County won the game by a final of 58-36.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Harlan 17

Gibson 16

Langford 8

Guffey 4

Summers 4

Stockton 3

Choate 2

Stines 2

Pruitt 2

Clinton County 63

Nelson County 41

Clinton County got off to a rocky start in Tuesday’s late game. After already having one game under its belt on Tuesday, Clinton County played the late game Tuesday night against Nelson County and it took the Dawgs a while to get its bearings.

Nelson County came out strong in the first quarter and scored first with a three pointer.

Summers scored a basket to cut the lead to one, but Nelson County scored again to push its lead to three points, 5-2.

Clinton County played catchup during the remainder of the first period and found itself down by four at the end of the eight minutes, 15-11.

During the second quarter, Clinton County quickly turned things around with a three pointer by Summers, followed by a basket by Langford and another basket by Summers. Nelson County scored one basket during the same two minutes, but Clinton County was on top by two points, 19-17.

The Dawgs then went on a scoring spree and a defensive stand as Clinton posted 13 points to finish the quarter while holding Nelson County to only two points. At the half, Clinton County led, 32-19.

The third quarter was all about control for the Dawgs as Clinton County used the clock to their advantage. Clinton County finished the quarter posting 11 points, while holding Nelson County to only nine.

At the end of three, the Dawgs controlled the lead 43-28.

The final quarter saw Clinton County put more points on the board while holding strong on defense.

Throughout the eight minute period, Clinton County posted 21 quarter points while holding Nelson County to only 13.

The majority of the scoring came during the first four minutes of the period and once Clinton County felt secure with its lead, several players came off the bench for some much needed playing time experience.

At the end of the game Clinton County had picked up the win, 63-41.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Summer 22

Gibson 16

Langford 10

Harlan 6

Choate 6

Stines 2

Pruitt 1

Clinton County 58

Monterey 48

In what proved to be one of the toughest games for Clinton County during the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic, the Dawgs had to fight to stay ahead when Clinton County went up against Monterey on Tuesday afternoon.

Both teams played back and forth throughout the first quarter and by the end of the eight minutes, Monterey had picked up a two point lead, 17-15.

Monterey continued to add to the board during the second quarter, pushing the lead to four points, 19-15.

Harlan cut the lead to two points on a field goal, 19-17, but Monterey scored again at the 7:01 mark, and hit a free throw to push the lead to five points, 22-17.

Clinton County finally took the lead at the 5:20 mark after buckets by Summers and Langford connected, 23-22.

Monterey tied the score on a free throw, and took the lead on back-to-back baskets for a 27-23 lead.

Harlan scored a basket to cut the lead to two points, but another field goal by Monterey pushed the team back up to a four point lead, 29-25, with 4:03 on the clock.

There wasn’t very much offensive action in the final four minutes before halftime, but once the period was over, Monterey found itself with a four point lead, 31-27.

During the third period, Gibson started out with a three pointer to cut the lead to one, 31-30. The Dawgs took the lead on a basket by Harlan, 32-31, but Monterey scored to regain the lead, 33-32, at the 3:30 mark.

The Dawgs finished the quarter with a 6-3 run in order to gaim a 38-36 lead at the end of three.

The first four minutes of the last quarter were back and forth with Monterey not giving up so easily.

It wasn’t until the 3:31 mark that Harlan hit back-to-back baskets to gain a seven point lead, 47-40.

Monterey came back and cut the lead to three points, 48-45 with 2:15 on the clock.

Although Clinton County couldn’t completely put Monterey away for good earlier in the quarter, Clinton County’s play proved to be stronger in the end as several trips to the foul line benefited the Dawgs.

With 14 seconds on the clock, Clinton County finally hit a 10 point lead and the final score of 58-48.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Harlan 27

Summer 13

Langford 12

Gibson 6

The Clinton County Bulldogs won the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic held last week at Lindle Castle Gymnasium by picking up four straight wins. Clinton County defeated South Warren, Nelson County, Monterey and York Institute. The team will be in Edmonson County this week for the second of two holiday tournaments on the schedule.

Jackson Harlan went up for a shot in the lane during Clinton County’s game against Monterey, TN on Tuesday of last week.