Bulldogs complete first half of 16th District sweep

Posted December 19, 2018 at 9:14 am


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In two of the most important back to back games of the season, the Clinton County Bulldogs finished 2-0 and in doing so, secure a three-game sweep of the first half of the16th District seeding race.

With an earlier win over Metcalfe County on December 7, the Bulldogs set their record this week against 16th District teams at 3-0 with marks in the “W” column against Cumberland County and Russell County.

In the game on Tuesday night in Burkesville, Coach Todd Messer and crew survived a comeback effort by the Panthers that saw Clinton County see a one-time 22 point lead be whittled down to a single-digit margin at the final buzzer for an 84-75 win

On Friday night, playing host to Russell County, the Dawgs again held on to ward off a comeback run late by the Lakers as the Dawgs again saw a lead that was once double-digits shrink to a final nine point spread, but a victory nonetheless, 61-52

Clinton County – 84

Cumberland Co. – 75

Getting off to a quick start last Tuesday night in Burkesville, the Clinton County Bulldogs appeared to be in complete control over the Panthers early, but a lack of “killer instinct” resulted in Cumberland County crawling their way back in contention before the Dawgs were eventually able to secure the 84-75 win.

Cumberland County led only briefly in the contest last Tuesday night, grabbing the game’s opening bucket to go on top 2-0.

That proved to be the only time the Panthers would be out in front, but it wouldn’t be the only time that Clinton County’s lead would be in danger.

Back to back opening baskets for Clinton County by Jackson Harlan and Chase Stines put Clinton County out in front early, 4-2, and from there, the race to the finish line was on with the Bulldogs out in front, sometimes by big margins, other times by closer than hoped for margins.

The Bulldogs’ offensive effort was clearly superior in the opening quarter, with additional scoring coming from teammates Seth Stockton and Caleb Guffey, Clinton County closed out the first quarter in control of its first double digit advantage, 22-11.

Cumberland County refused to give up at that early juncture of the contest, with the Dawgs stretching out to a one-time 13 point advantage near the mid point of that second quarter, 29-16, before the Panthers cut the Clinton County lead to just nine points at halftime, 35-26.

It was during the third quarter of action that the Bulldogs appeared poised to put the Panthers away.

With Evan Dearborn coming off the Clinton County bench to give the Dawgs a scoring run with six third quarter points, the Panthers found themselves trailing by 21 points with just 1:37 remaining in the period, 57-36.

Cumberland County finished the quarter with a 5-0 run of their own to set the score at 57-41 going into the final eight minute period of play

Once again, the Bulldogs appeared ready to close the book on the Panthers as the quarter first got underway, with baskets from Stockton, Harlan and Nick Brown pushing the Clinton County lead to 22 points, 67-45, with 5:35 on the game clock.

Cumberland County came roaring back in those final five minutes, and the Bulldogs seemed unable to put the lid back on the game as Clinton County’s lead continued to leak away down the stretch.

Cumberland County cut the difference to just six points with 1:10 showing on the clock, 78-72, but being slow to foul the Bulldogs in the next possession prevented that comeback from getting any closer.

Harlan finished Clinton County’s scoring from the free throw line on three separate trips, dropping in five of six attempts to set the final score at an 84-75 Bulldog victory.

The Bulldogs dropped in 50 percent of their shots from the line, hitting 27 of 54 attempts, including four of 16 attempt from beyond the three-point arc for 25 percent.

From the line, Clinton County hit 77 percent, dropping in 26 of 34 attempts.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Harlan 33

Stockton 23

Dearborn 16

Guffey 5

Stines 5

Brown 2

Clinton County – 84

Russell Co. – 75

For the second time in the same week, the Clinton County Bulldogs picked up an important win over a 16th District opponent, giving them an early edge in the race for the coveted post-season top seeding position with a 3-0 mark in district play.

Friday night’s 84-75 win over the Lakers of Russell County was also the second time last week that the Bulldogs appeared to be on their way to an all out route of their opponents, only to find themselves battling hard to hang on to their lead down the stretch.

The Bulldogs got off to a slow start on a night that their shots seemed to be just slightly off the mark, while at the same time, the Lakers pulled away in the early minutes to eventually gain a hold of a 10-5 lead with 3:44 on the first quarter clock.

Although Clinton County’s Seth Stockton had opened up scoring for the Dawgs, grabbing the first five points, he was stricken with a sudden ailment and would be taken to the dressing room, not to return for the remainder of the night.

Jackson Harlan and Nick Brown combined with back to back field goals to close out Clinton County’s first quarter offensive attack, tying the Lakers at 10-10.

The second quarter began with shooting that was still less than the norm for the Dawgs, but progressed with Clinton County beginning to find its mark more and more consistently.

With offensive contributions coming from Nick Delk, Evan Dearborn, Caleb Guffey and Chase Stines, in addition to Harlan and Brown, the first half came to an end looking as if Clinton County had solved it’s shooting problems, ahead by 19 points, 38-19,

The Dawgs bolstered that lead as the second half got underway, pulling away to a 23 point advantage, 46-23 with 4:30 on the clock.

It was about at that same time, with Clinton County in control of its largest lead of the night, that the Bulldog game seemed to reverse directions again, leaving Russell County with the clear advantage as the game moved into the fourth and final quarter of play and the Bulldogs leading by only 10 points, 49-39.

The Lakers were quick to bring Clinton County’s lead to a single digit margin, opening the fourth quarter with a 4-0 run to cut the spread to six points, 49-43.

Both teams battled back and forth as the final four minutes played out, with Clinton County managing to patch the bleeding down the stretch, basically matching every Russell County score and finishing the game on two Harlan free throws that would push the Bulldog lead, and the victory, to a nine point margin,61-52.

Clinton County hit 36 percent from the floor, dropping in 21 of 58 attempts, including five of 23 shots from three point range for 22 percent.

From the line, the Bulldogs were 14 of 23 attempts for 61 percent.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Harlan 19

Stines 13

Dearborn 6

Delk 5

Stockton 5

Brown 4

Guffey 4

Cross 3

Pruitt 2

The Bulldogs will be playing the host this week to four teams visiting Clinton County for the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic.

A complete set of game schedules for the tournament can be found this week in Sports.

Nick Brown went in for a layup during Clinton County’s game against Russell County on Friday night. Clinton County won the game, 84-75.

Jackson Harlan put up a shot in the lane Friday night in the first half against Russell County. He finished the game with 19 points.