Although the calendar still says “February”, for high school basketball fans – thoughts are deep in “March Madness” in Kentucky – or perhaps a better description of this season is “Hoops Hysteria.”

All across the state, high school teams and fans are gathering in small and large community gymnasiums as the first round of high school basketball tournaments got underway Monday night.

Clinton County and the 16th District was no exception to the “hysteria” mood as all four counties were represented Monday night inside the Lindle Castle Gymnasium as half of the first-round tournament games played out.

Clinton County’s Bulldogs, the top seeded team in the district, held off a hard battling Metcalfe County Hornet Squad, 64-46, to earn a right to play in Friday night’s championship game of the 16th District Tournament.

A detailed account of Monday night’s Clinton County win over Metcalfe, can be found in this week’s Clinton County News on page 7.

In Friday night’s title contest, the Dawgs, 18-11, will face the winner of Tuesday night’s semi-final game between Cumberland County and Russell County.

Friday night’s boys’ championship game will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. at Clinton County High School.

In earning a trip to Friday night’s championship game, the Bulldogs once again earned the right to also play in next week’s 4th Region Tournament in Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

Clinton County’s Lady Bulldogs, seeded as the No. 3 team, played in semi-final action on Tuesday night, going up against No. 2 seeded Metcalfe County, for the right to advance to the girls’ championship game of the 16th District.

Tuesday night’s game between Clinton County and Metcalfe County was too late for this week’s Clinton County News, but a detailed account of Tuesday night’s contest will be included in next week’s issue.

The winner of Tuesday night’s semi-final game, Clinton County or Metcalfe County, will be facing Russell County in the 16th District Championship game, after the Lady Lakers easily advanced to the title game after a 69-27 win over the Lady Panthers of Cumberland County on Monday night.

The girls’ championship game will be played on Thursday night at Clinton County High School, with a scheduled 7:00 p.m. tip-off.

Bracket pairings for both the boys’ and girls’ 4th Region Tournament will be determined on Saturday morning when the schools playing will meet at Bowling Green’s Warren East High School for the drawing event.

Watch the Clinton County News Facebook page for results of the draw, including pairings and game times for next week’s 4th Region Tournament in Bowling Green.

With the Clinton County High School student body watching from the pep section, along with its own “CCSPN” broadcast crew, Seth Stockton went up for a rebound Monday night during the Bulldog’s 64-46 win over Metcalfe County. Stockton finished regular season play as the top rebounder in Kentucky.

The victory came in the first round of the 16th District Tournament, and sent the Dawgs into Friday night’s championship game. The Lady Bulldogs faced Metcalfe County in opening round action on Tuesday in a game too late for NEWS coverage this week.