The Clinton County Bulldogs hosted the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic on December 20-22 and played four games, winning two and dropping two.

Twin Lakes

Holiday Classic

Clinton County 66

South Warren 52

The Dawgs hosted in-region rival South Warren on December 20 in the first game for Clinton County in the Twin Lakes Holiday Tournament.

Clinton County won the game by a final score of 66-52.

In the first quarter, it was South Warren dropping the first points with a field goal at the 6:40 mark. Chase Stines then hit a field goal and was fouled and completed the three point play to take a one point lead, 3-2.

South Warren added another basket to the scoreboard, but Noah Pruitt regained the lead on a field goal for a 5-4 Clinton County lead.

With four minutes remaining in the quarter, South Warren added two baskets to take the lead by three points, 8-5. After that, Clinton County put together a 14-2 run to close out the quarter with a 19-10 lead.

During the second quarter, South Warren scored first to cut the lead to seven, 19-12. Jackson Harlan hit one of two from the foul line to push the Dawgs’ lead to eight points at the 6:25 mark.

South Warren wouldn’t go away and Clinton County’s defense began to struggle. By the end of the period, South Warren scored five straight points to tie the score at 25. Nick Brown closed out the half with a field goal with 10 seconds remaining for a halftime lead of two points, 27-25.

Clinton County came out at halftime and put together a 10-4 run to lead by eight points at the 5:01 mark, 37-29.

Back-to-back baskets by Seth Stockton gave the Dawgs a 10 point lead, 41-31, followed by two free throws by Brown, for a 12 point lead with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter.

Clinton County matched South Warren for points for the remainder of the third quarter and set the Dawgs up for a 51-40 third quarter lead.

During the final quarter, Clinton County maintained its lead and scored 15 points in the final eight minutes, compared to South Warren’s 12.

The Bulldogs won the game by a final score of 66-52.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Harlan 29

Stockton 16

Stines 11

Brown 6

Pruitt 2

Dearborn 2

Clinton County 52

Monterey, TN 64

The Clinton County Bulldogs played Monterey Thursday night for the final game of the day in the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic.

The Dawgs lost the contest by a final score of 64-52.

During the first quarter, Monterey jumped out to a 9-2 lead, with Stockton scoring the only basket for the Dawgs in the first four minutes.

Harlan hit one of two from the line at the 3:50 mark to cut the lead to six, 9-3, followed by a three point play to get to within three points at the 3:22 mark.

Monterey scored a three point play of its own to jump back out to six points, but back-to-back buckets by Harlan cut the lead to two points with 2:05 on the clock in the first quarter.

Clinton County would score only two more points to close out the period while Monterey added four to the board for a first quarter lead, 16-12.

The energy level for the Bulldogs was a bit down in the second quarter as Clinton County found it hard to keep Monterey from scoring.

At the 3:10 mark, Monterey had reached a 10 point lead on the Dawgs and outscored Clinton County 8-5 to close out the period, for a halftime lead of 35-22.

Pruitt opened up the second half for the Dawgs, making a field goal to cut the lead to 11 points, but Monterey scored a field goal at the 5:04 mark to regain a 13 point lead, 37-24.

Harlan scored a basket, followed by a three point play and a basket by Nick Delk to get to within five points, 37-32 with 3:40 showing on the scoreboard.

Monterey scored a field goal to push the lead back to seven points, but a field goal by Harlan cut the Wildcats’ lead to five with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter.

Despite the hard effort by the Dawgs, Monterey was able to extend the lead back to 10 points as the third quarter ended, 46-36.

As the fourth quarter got underway, Clinton County tried desperately to crawl back into the game. Monterey went cold from the floor, but the Bulldogs lost Harlan due to cramping. Harlan was able to return to the game, however, Clinton County had already dug a hole too deep to crawl out of. By the end of the game, Clinton County was found on the losing end of the scoreboard as Monterey topped the Dawgs, 64-52.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Harlan 20

Stockton 14

Delk 8

Pruitt 4

Stines 2

Dearborn 2

Guffey 2

Clinton County 63

Elliottt County 77

The Dawgs played Elliott County in its third game of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic on Friday.

The Dawgs opened up good against the Lions with a 7-0 run. Elliott County then hit a three pointer to cut the lead to four points, but a three pointer by Brown gave the Dawgs a seven point lead with 6:25 on the clock, 10-3.

Elliott County came firing back and cut the lead to two points, 10-8, but a three point play by Harlan put Clinton County up by five, 13-8, with 3:33 remaining in the first quarter.

Elliott County came back and made a field goal, but a basket by Stockton pushed the lead back out to five points, 15-10.

Clinton County’s defense began to struggle in the final three minutes as Elliott County outscored the Dawgs 7-2 to close out the period, 17-17.

To open up the second quarter, Elliottt County’s Coach received a technical foul, putting Harlan at the line to shoot the free throws, hitting only one of two for a one point lead, 18-17.

Dearborn came off the bench and scored a field goal to give the Dawgs a three point lead, 20-17, followed by a basket by Stockton, 22-17, with 7:15 remaining in the half.

Elliott County then hit a three pointer to cut the lead to two points, but Harlan was fouled in the act of shooting on the next possession, hitting two of two from the line.

The Wildcats hit a three pointer with 6:01 on the clock to cut the lead back to one point, 24-23. The second quarter became a three point shootout between both teams and the score went back and forth up until the 3:20 mark when Elliott County took a two point lead, 32-30.

Stockton responded with a three pointer for a one point edge and Elliott County hit yet another three pointer to take back the two point lead, 35-33. By the end of the half, Elliott County put together a 5-2 run to close out the quarter and take a five point lead at the half, 40-35.

Clinton County came out in the second quarter and started chipping away at Elliott County’s lead.

In the first two minutes of the period, Clinton County’s Stockton and Harlan combined for 11 points to take a two point lead, 46-44.

Stines added to the lead with a three pointer, 49-44, but Elliott County wouldn’t go away as the Lions cut the lead back to three points, 49-46 with 4:15 on the clock.

Both teams finished the quarter back and forth, never more than three points away from each other until 51 seconds remaining when Evan Dearborn hit a three pointer to put the Dawgs up by five points.

In the final seconds of the third quarter, Clinton County failed to score as Elliott County posted a three pointer and two free throws to tie the score at 59 at the end of three.

As the fourth quarter got underway, it was all Elliott County as the Lions put together 13-1 run with 1:51 on the clock.

Clinton County’s Head Coach Todd Messer received a technical foul just under two minutes remaining that sent the Lions to the line hitting only one free throw to lead by 11 points, 73-62.

Clinton County finished the game scoring only one more points as Elliott County came out with the win, 77-63.

Stockton finished the game with 18 rebounds.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Harlan 32

Stockton 15

Dearborn 7

Stines 5

Brown 4

Clinton County 52

CPA 45

Clinton County’s final game of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic came on Saturday afternoon as the Dawgs took on the eventual champions Christ Presbyterian Academy.

In what was said to be one of the best games played this season by the Dawgs, Clinton County defeated one of the best teams in the tournament, 52-45.

The game started out slow for both teams and by the end of the first quarter, both teams were tied at 14 with the momentum going towards the Dawgs.

Clinton County opened up the second quarter with a three pointer by Stockton and a field goal by Harlan for a five point lead, 19-14.

CPA hit a field goal at the 6:11 mark, but Stockton and Stines hit back-to-back buckets to take a seven point lead, 23-16 with 5:10 remaining in the half.

CPA hit a three pointer to get to within four points, 23-19, but just as Clinton County was beginning to find a flow to the game, Head Coach Messer was slammed with back-to-back technical fouls, sending him out of the gym for the remainder of the game.

Clinton County responded well to the ejection of Messer and finished the quarter with a five point lead, 32-27.

Stockton opened up the second half with a field goal, but CPA hit a three pointer to cut the lead to four points, 34-30.

During the next four minutes, Clinton County added 11 points to the board while CPA put up only seven.

With 2:50 on the clock, Harlan hit a field goal to put the Dawgs up by four, 43-39. CPA hit two free throws to cut the lead to two points, but Stockton and Stines added field goals, as well as a three pointer from Harlan to put the Dawgs up by nine points, 50-41, with 54 seconds on the clock in the third quarter.

CPA hit a field goal with 29 seconds on the clock to cut the lead to seven points, but a pair of free throws by Harlan extended the lead back to nine with eight seconds remaining.

CPA drove the ball the entire lenght of the floor in the final seconds to hit a buzzer beater to cut the lead to seven at the end of three quarters, 52-45.

Clinton County really added some distance in the fourth quarter, picking up a 10 point lead at the five minute mark, 62-52.

The Dawgs continued to control the game both on offense and defense and controlling the clock.

The Dawgs racked up a total of 22 points in the fourth quarter alone and was good enough to defeat the eventual tournament champions with CPA’s only loss coming to the Bulldogs.

Clinton County finished the game with a 10 point victory, 74-64.

Stockton finished with another double-double with 12 rebounds.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Harlan 23

Stockton 20

Stines 12

Dearborn 7

Guffey 5

Pruitt 4

Brown 3

Clinton County will travel to Tennessee this week to take part in the King of the Smokies at Pigeon Forge.

With Coach Messer being ejected during the final game of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic, he will be forced to sit out the next three games and will return to the sidelines on January 3 as the Dawgs host Pickett County, Tennessee at The Castle.

Chase Stines drove the lane and put up a shot against South Warren on Thursday, December 20 in the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic. He finished with 11 points.

Seth Stockton made a mid-range jumper in the second half against South Warren Thursday. The Dawgs won the game by a final of, 66-52. Stockton finished with 16 points on the night.

Noah Pruitt went up for a shot in the second half against South Warren on Thursday during the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic held at The Castle.