March Madness has arrived for high school basketball fans, after a turbulent COVID-19 altered 2021 year.

With Cumberland County hosting this year’s 16th District Tournament this week, boys’ first round action is already completed and girls’ first round play is set to get underway next.

Clinton County’s Lady Bulldogs were set to face Metcalfe County in opening round girls’ action of the 16th District Tournament on Wednesday night.

A victory on Wednesday would send the Lady Bulldogs to the championship game set for Friday night at 7:00 p.m.

At left, Bulldog guard Nick Brown put up a three point shot Sunday afternoon in Clinton County’s opening round win of the 16th District Tournament.

Brown put up 26 points in the Bulldogs’ 60-53 win over Cumberland County. The Bulldogs will now advance to the championship game on Thursday night, facing Metcalfe County, at 7:00 p.m.

Due to COVID-19 concerns and precautions, no public ticket sales are being offered this year to the District Tournament.

The 4th Region Tournament begins next week, with boys’ play getting underway Sunday, followed by the girls’ tournament.

Todd Messer, Clinton County High School Boys’ Basketball Head Coach, always gives credit for his team’s accomplishments directly back to his players, but last week, the tables were turned on him, not once, but twice.

On Friday afternoon, Kentucky Senator Max Wise (R-Campbellsville), honored Messer’s recent accomplishment of becoming Clinton County’s winningest coach, by introducing a resolution on the Kentucky Senate Floor pointing out the local coach’s accomplishment.

Messer was joined by his players and coaching staff Friday afternoon prior to the start of a normal practice session, as they watched Wise make the presentation on the Senate Floor.

The resolution, when presented for a vote, passed unanaimously by the Kentucky Senate, bringing a round of applause from the players gathered in Messer’s CCHS office.

Messer became the coach with the most wins at Clinton County during a game on January 8 against Russell County High School when he coached the Bulldogs to the 274th victory since he became the Bulldog coach some 15 seasons ago.

Messer’s victory mark put him in front of long time legendary boys’ basketball coach Lindle Castle, who retired in the early 1980s with 273 victories at the Bulldog helm.

Currently, going into Thursday night’s 16th Disrict Championship game at Cumberland County High School, Messer has coached the Bulldogs to 292 career wins.

Messer was honored a second time last week when it was announced by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches that he had been named the 4th Region Boys’ Coach of the Year.

In a press release fromKayla Moore VanHoose, the Tech and Media Relations liason for the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches, the honor for Messer was announced along with the coaches and players of the year from across Kentucky’s 16 regions.

VanHoose noted that the selections were made by voting coaching members of the association from across the entire state.

Piper Lindsey of Barren County was named the 4th Region girls’ Coach of the Year, while Isaiah Mason of Bowling Green and Luch Patterson of Warren East, were named the 4th Region Boy and Girl Player of the Year, respectively.

In a separate polling among 4th Region coaches only, three Clinton County players were also honored over the weekend.

Bulldog players Nick Delk and Chase Stines, and Lady Bulldog player Braylee Mann, were all named to the 4th Region All Season 3rd team of the year.

Members of the Clinton County High School boys basketball team spent some time Friday afternoon, along with the coaching staff, before their normal practice, watching the KET broadcast of the Kentucky Senate session.

Kentucky Senator Max Wise, whose senate district includes Clinton County, presented a resolution to the Kentucky Senate honoring Bulldog head coach Todd Messer on the accomplishment earlier this season of becoming the all-time winningest coach at the school, with 274 victories.