Ryan Beard sent up a three pointer from the corner Tuesday night against Burkesville. The Bulldogs won the district championship by defeating Cumberland then Russell County.

The Clinton County Bulldogs won its first 16th District Title since the 2006/2007 season.

Clinton County defeated Cumberland County 83-50, in the first round and completely controlled Russell County in the finals, 64-52 to be crowned 16th District Champions.

16th District Finals

Clinton County 64

Russell County 52

The Bulldogs defeated number one seed Russell County in the championship game of the 2012 district finals by 12 points, 64-52.

During the first quarter, Clinton County got off to a semi-slow start, but forced Russell County to an even slower start.

With Russell County gaining the early lead, 3-1, Clinton County took the lead on a field goal by Keifer Dalton and one by Wayne Stearns, 5-3.

Russell County tied the game at five and took a four point lead on a three pointer, 9-5 with 4:09 on the clock.

The Bulldogs then put together an 11-0 run that ended with a three pointer by Senior Sawyer Stalcup for a 16-9 first quarter lead.

Russell County would finish the quarter with two field goals, but a free throw by Stearns with a minute remaining gave the Dawgs 17 points in the first quarter while Russell County scored 13.

During the second quarter, scoring was slow for both teams, but the Bulldogs held Russell County to only five points for the period.

The Bulldogs finished the quarter with 10 points to take a nine point halftime lead, 27-18.

During the third quarter, Clinton County opened up with an 11-3 run that ended with Dalton hitting a three pointer for a 17 point lead, 38-21.

At this point in the game, Clinton County was firing on all cylinders and Russell County just didn’t have an answer.

Russell County would cut the lead to 11 points on a couple of occasions during the third period, but Clinton County was just too strong, taking a 15 point lead at the end of the third quarter, 46-31.

Clinton County grabbed its biggest lead of the game at the beginning of the four quarter when the Bulldogs started with a 6-0 run to lead by 21 points, 52-31.

Russell County made a basket and a field goal to cut the lead to 18 points, but Stalcup made a layup from a pass by Colby Langford to push the Bulldogs up by 20 points, 54-34, with 6:27 on the clock.

Russell County added five straight points to the board to cut the lead to 15 points, but Senior Wendell Maupin made two free throws to give Clinton County a 17 point lead with 5:21 on the clock.

Everytime Russell County would make a basket, Clinton County was there on the other end to counteract the scoring from the Lakers.

With 3:13 on the clock, Clinton County led by 18 points after Ryan Beard knocked down two free throws.

Russell County then started to score, cutting the lead to 14 points before Langford nailed a three pointer from the left corner to put the Dawgs back up by 17 points with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

Clinton County’s defense relaxed a bit in order to keep from fouling and allow time to tick off the clock.

During the final 1:43, Russell County made back-to-back goals to cut the lead to 13 points, but a free throw by Dalton gave the Dawgs a 14 point lead with 43 seconds on the clock, 64-50.

As Dalton missed the second of two attempts from the line, Langford was called for a foul on the rebound and sent Russell County to the foul line with 42 seconds remaining. The Lakers made the two free throws, but didn’t score again to give the Bulldogs the 64-52 victory and the title of 16th District Champions.

The Bulldogs made 23 of 47 from the floor for 48.9 percent, including four of six from behind the three point line for 66.7 percent.

From the foul line, the Dawgs hit 14 of 19 for 73.7 percent.

Clinton County was outrebounded by the Lakers, 37-25, but Clinton County forced 20 turnovers compared to committing only nine for the game.

The Bulldogs will be back in action Thursday, March 1, at WKU’s Diddle Arena to take on 15th District runners-up Glasgow in the opening round of the 4th Region Tournament. That game is set to tip off around 8 p.m.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dalton 23

Stearns 18

Stalcup 9

Langford 8

Beard 4

Maupin 2

1st Round District

Clinton County 83

Cumberland County 50

The Bulldogs got off to an extremely slow start Tuesday against the Panthers of Cumberland County. At the end of the first period, Cumberland County had a surpising one point lead over the Dawgs, 16-15.

The second quarter however, was a completely different story as the Bulldogs posted more points in the second quarter alone than Cumberland County did for the entire first half.

The Bulldogs led at the half by a score of 42-26.

As the third quarter got underway, Clinton County reached a 20 point lead with 7:08 remaining in the period.

Cumberland County cut the lead to 16 points, but one free throw by Langford and two by Stalcup pushed the lead back to 19 points, 49-30.

The Panthers scored a field goal, but was answered by Maupin’s layup.

Back-to-back baskets cut Clinton County’s lead to 15 points with 2:03 on the clock, but Clinton County also made back-to-back goals to keep the lead at 19 points, 55-36.

Cumberland County scored again, but its effort was erased by a field goal from Langford as the quarter ended with the Bulldogs in control, 57-38.

During the fourth quarter, it was again all Clinton County as the Bulldogs held the Panthers to only one field goal for the remainder of the game.

The Bulldogs grabbed a 30 point lead with 4:17 remaining, 74-44, on a three pointer by Beard.

Two free throws by Cumberland County cut the lead to 28 points, but a three pointer by Stearns pushed the Dawgs ahead by 31, 77-46.

Clinton County Senior Derek Albertson scored four of Clinton County’s final six points on back-to-back field goals, while Frank England made a jumper in the lane with 1:04 on the clock to five the Dawgs a 34 point lead.

Cumberland County hit a free throw with 39 seconds on the clock to reach a final score of 83-50 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Langford 20

Dalton 17

Stalcup 15

Stearns 11

Beard 9

Albertson 4

Maupin 3

Davis 2

England 2

Senior Sawyer Stalcup put up a jumper during the first round game on Tuesday against Cumberland County. The Dawgs won that game, 83-50 and won the finals against Russell County, 64-52. Stalcup finished with 15 and nine points respectively.

Clinton County will play Glasgow Thursday in regional tournament