The Clinton County Bulldogs were on the winning half of all season openers Monday night across the state as the Dawgs moved to 1-0 after a hard fought battle at Casey County.

The Dawgs seemed to be in control early in the game, being able to score at will and applying defense, which caused problems for the Rebels early.

With a quick 6-6 score, Clinton County hit a scoring spree at the 5:18 mark that took the Dawgs into the second quarter.

From the 5:18 mark, Clinton County posted points by Nick Delk, Caleb Guffey, Nick Brown, Chase Stines and Parker Tallent for a 16-8 first quarter lead.

Clinton County Head Coach Todd Messer was doing some experimenting when it came to subbing players out as he went to a sort of platoon style rotation with four in and four out.

During the second quarter, Clinton County’s defense relaxed somewhat and allowed Casey County to get back into the game with a 9-0 run over the Dawgs for a one point lead, 17-16 with 4:22 on the clock.

Stines went to the line at the 4:08 mark to hit both from the charity stripe to regain the lead, followed by a field goal to put the Dawgs up by three, 20-17, with 3:29 remaining in the half.

Casey County wasn’t finished as the Rebels hit two free throws to cut the lead to two going into halftime, 20-18.

The Bulldogs opened up the second half much like they did the first half with the ability to score at will and the ability to hold its opponent on defense.

Clinton County opened with a 6-0 run on field goals by Delk, Guffey and Stines before Casey County hit a three pointer to cut the lead to five points, 26-21.

Brown then hit a basket and was fouled, completing the three point play, along with another field goal to put the Dawgs up by 10 points with 4:13 on the clock, 31-21.

Clinton County’s first double digit lead was short lived as Casey County fought back and cut the lead to six on two field goals, 31-25 with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter.

For the remainder of the quarter, Clinton County kept its distance. By the end of the period, Clinton County found itself up by eight points, 39-31.

The fourth quarter was just Clinton County playing keep-a-way for eight minutes. Clinton County did struggle somewhat with the Rebels getting to within six points a couple of times, but were able to extend the lead and add cushion towards the end of the game.

At the 1:53 mark, Clinton County reached its largest lead of the game at 52-39 with two free throws by Brown.

Clinton County finished the game scoring four more points to take the win by 10 points, 56-46.

Individuals scoring for Clinton County was:

Stines 15

Brown 13

Guffey 12

Delk 7

Melton 3

Tallent 2

Dearborn 2

Hay 2

Clinton County will be at home on Friday night as the Dawgs play the second game of a girls’/boys’ double header with the Lady Dawgs tipping off around 6 p.m. at Lindle Castle Gymnasium against Franklin-Simpson.

Chase Stines drove the lane for a layup during the first half against Casey County on Monday night. He finished with 15 points. Clinton County won the game to move to 1-0 on the season, 56-46. The Dawgs will be in action at home on Friday night to host Franklin-Simpson.

Nick Delk broke away to put up a shot in the first half against Casey County. Delk finished the game with seven points. Clinton County won, 56-46.