The Clinton County Bulldogs made it all the way through the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic, picking up the championship trophy and finishing with a record of 10-0 on the year.

The Dawgs also took its game to Las Vegas, Nevada this week and came out with a win in game number one in the Las Vegas Classic.

Clinton County 60

Reed, Nevada 48

Clinton County started off the game on the right foot as the Dawgs jumped out to a 15-10 first quarter lead against Reed.

Both teams went back and forth during the second quarter by scoring 14 points.

Clinton County saw scoring from Nick Delk with six points, Braden Stockton with four, and Eli Dearborn with four points to lead at the half, 29-24.

After the break, Clinton County continued to control the game as the Dawgs put up 12 points, eight coming from Delk.

The Bulldogs’ defense allowed Reed to score only 10 points during the eight minute period to lead 41-34.

In the fourth quarter, Clinton County posted 19 points compared to Reed’s 14.

Scoring came from Bryson Cross with five points, Cohen Davis with two points, Adam Hay with two points, Blake Melton with three points and Delk with seven points, five of which came from the foul line.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, Clinton County moved to 11-0 on the year with the 60-48 win.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Delk 22

Davis 7

Dearborn 7

Melton 7

Cross 5

Hay 4

Stockton 4

Nuetzman 2

Burchett 2

Clinton County 67

Valley 57

The Bulldogs made it to Wednesday’s game of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic with no losses and playing Valley for the outright championship of the tournament.

The Dawgs fell behind early in the game as Valley came out and knocked down a three pointer to get the scoring started.

Nick Delk hit a free throw and a field goal to tie the score, but Valley hit a field goal for a two point lead at the 5:49 mark.

Clinton County’s Bryson Cross scored a field goal to tie the score at five.

Both teams went back and forth until Clinton County grabbed its first lead on a three pointer by Blake Melton, 11-10.

Valley quickly regained the lead on a three pointer of their own, but Adam Hay tied the score at 13 on two free throws with 3:05 remaining in the quarter.

The rest of the quarter was back and forth with neither team reaching more than a two point lead over the other.

By the end of the first quarter, Valley led the Bulldogs 21-19.

The second quarter went much the same for both teams. However, Valley was living by the three point shot, hitting 10 total in the first half alone.

With both teams going back and forth the entire eight minutes, it was Valley getting the one point edge at the half, 35-34.

Delk came out in the second half and put on a back door clinic for those in attendance.

He scored 11 of his game high 30 points in the third period alone, to give Clinton County 20 points for the eight minutes of play. Clinton County’s defense also stepped up and held Valley to only nine points for the third quarter, giving the Dawgs a 10 point lead heading into the final quarter, 54-44.

Delk continued to score at will during the final quarter, as both teams posted 13 each.

Delk scored seven and Hay, Cross and Steele Burchett had a basket each.

By the time the final quarter was over, Clinton County had picked up the 67-57 win and the championship trophy of the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Delk 30

Cross 11

Melton 9

Hay 7

Davis 4

Burchett 2

Stockton 2

Dearborn 2

Clinton County 65

Southwestern 49

The third game of the tournament for Clinton County came on Tuesday night of last week as the Dawgs took on Southwestern of Pulaski County.

Both teams started out matching each other blow for blow. The end of the first period saw both teams put up 12 points for a tie heading into the second quarter.

The Dawgs came out and went on a 6-0 run in the second quarter on a field goal by Braden Stockton, one free throw by Eli Dearborn and three free throws by Burchett, 18-12.

Southwestern came back and put up a 9-0 run against the Dawgs to grab a three point lead at the 3:23 mark, 21-18.

Clinton County then went to work and outscored Southwestern 12-2 to end the half with a 30-23 lead.

The Dawgs continued to roll in the second half, as Delk scored 10 of his game high 22 points in the third quarter alone.

The Dawgs ended up posting 18 points during the period to grab a 48-36 lead.

Clinton County held Southwestern to only 13 points in the third quarter.

The Dawgs opened the final quarter with an 8-2 run to lead by 18 points. Clinton County never lost control of the game from that point on and ended up with a 16 point victory, 65-49.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Delk 22

Cross 9

Davis 8

Melton 8

Dearborn 6

Hay 5

Burchett 3

Stockton 2

Young 2

Clinton County 64

Caverna 57

Overtime

The only game during the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic to give Clinton County any trouble was Tuesday’s first game of the day against Caverna.

Clinton County came out cold and dry on offense as Caverna quickly opened up with a six point lead, 10-4.

The Dawgs then put together an 8-0 run to take a two point lead, 12-10 with 2:59 on the clock.

Caverna finished the quarter scoring five points to Clinton County’s two to regain the lead at the end of one, 15-14.

The Bulldogs continued to struggle during the second quarter as Caverna seemed to score at will.

It took the entire quarter, but Caverna managed to lead by 10 points with 10 seconds remaining in the half, before Davis hit a three pointer at the buzzer.

Clinton County went into the locker room at the half down by seven points, 30-23.

Caverna didn’t let up any in the second half, scoring the first four points of the quarter, 34-23.

At the 6:01 mark, Caverna reached an 11 point lead, 36-25 and maintained that lead for the remainder of the period.

By the time the third quarter was over, Caverna had an 11 point lead over the Dawgs, 50-39.

The fourth quarter is when the Dawgs decided to show up, and that was clearly evident on defense, allowing only two points for the entire eight minutes of play.

On offense, Clinton County clawed its way back in and with less than two minutes remaining, Melton hit a turnaround shot to tie the score at 52.

With 1:30 on the clock, Head Coach Todd Messer used the clock to his advantage as he spread the floor and held the ball to the eight second mark.

As time ran off the clock, Melton put up a three pointer for the win, but missed, and Delk tried to get it back up for a putback. Delk was fouled on the shot, but no call was made, sending the game into overtime tied at 52.

The Dawgs continued to shine in the overtime period as Clinton County took the lead on two field goals by Cross and Melton, 56-52.

Caverna scored a free throw at the 2:27 mark, followed by a basket by Delk to lead 58-53.

The Colonels hit a basket at the 1:55 mark to cut the lead to three points, but baskets by Delk and Melton, as well as two free throws by Davis, put the Dawgs up 64-55 with 15 seconds remaining.

Caverna managed to score a field goal in the final seconds to finish the game, 64-57.

Individual scoring for the Dawgs was:

Melton 21

Delk 18

Cross 15

Davis 5

Hay 3

Stockton 2

Eli Dearborn put up a short jumper on the baseline during Clinton County’s game against Caverna in the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic last week.

Nick Delk put up two of his game total 18 points in the first half against Caverna in the Twin Lakes Holiday Classic last week. Clinton County won the tournament, picking up four wins and went to Las Vegas picking up one win, moving to 11-0 on the year.