The Clinton County Bulldogs will be traveling to Bowling Green next week to play in the 4th Region Tournament at WKU’s Diddle Arena after winning its first game of the district tournament Monday night against Metcalfe County, 68-29.

The Dawgs also picked up another win this week against Monticello, 76-40 but lost a game at home against Barren County, 64-61.

After Monday night’s win, the Bulldogs will face the winner of Tuesday night’s game, too late for press deadline, between Russell County and Cumberland County.

Russell County defeated the Panthers in both regular season outings, 74-49 and 75-53.

16th District Tournament

Clinton County 68

Metcalfe County 29

In its 16th District Tournament opening game, the Clinton County Bulldogs assured themselves of seeing their season continue into the championship game this Thursday night, after picking up a 68-29 victory over Metcalfe County.

Facing the Hornets at host Cumberland County in the Monday nightcap contest, Clinton County was clearly the superior squad in the mismatched contest that saw the game eventually being finished under the running clock “mercy rule” that kicks in when 35 points separate the two competing squads.

Although it often becomes difficult for a team to put up its best performance when a serious mismatch is at hand, the Bulldogs were clearly determined to quickly take care of business and make sure that the Hornets weren’t allowed to pull any upset maneuvers in Monday’s opening round game.

Clinton County’s victory over Metcalfe on Monday will send the Bulldogs into the Championship game at Cumberland County this Friday night, facing the winner of Tuesday night’s other first round game between the Lakers of Russell County and the Panthers of host Cumberland County High, a contest that was played too late for this week’s press deadline.

The Bulldogs will take an 18-10 game into Thursday night’s Championship game, while Metcalfe County saw its season come to an end with an 1-29 overall season record.

In Monday night’s game, Clinton County jumped out to command a quick lead over the Hornets, leading at the end of every stop en route to the eventual 68-29 victory.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Metcalfe put in its first basket with just 1:34 showing on the first quarter clock.

Clinton County finished the first quarter in control of an 18-2 lead and as the second quarter got underway, it was clear that the Dawgs were already in coasting mode, and with Coach Todd Messer already having reached 10 deep into his player list, the Bulldogs closed out the first half of action in command of a 36-9 lead.

Clinton County never looked back, and before the second half had advanced very far, every Bulldog on the bench was enjoying taking part in securing the opening round victory.

The Bulldogs held a 51-18 lead mid-way through the third quarter, heading into the fourth and final quarter with a 59-25 advantage as the clock ran for the final minutes of the fourth quarter before Clinton County picked up the 68-29 victory.

With 11 Bulldogs figuring into the individual scoring, the final totals were:

Dalton 14

Langford 12

Davis 10

England 9

Beard 8

Claywell 5

Cook 3

Choate 2

Gibson 2

Tallent 2

Means 1

Clinton County’s Lady Bulldogs also played in the opening round of the 16th District Tournament this week, going up against Metcalfe County on Tuesday night in a contest that was played too late for this week’s deadline.

Details on that contest will be included in next week’s Clinton County News.

Clinton County 61

Barren County 64

The Bulldogs fell behind by too much in the final two minutes of the game and couldn’t quite take the lead as Barren County picked up the win over the Dawgs, 64-61, Thursday night.

At the start of the game, the Bulldogs fell behind 8-0 before scoring its first points of the game.

The Dawgs finally found its rythum after Senior Frank England scored the first six points for Clinton County. Colby Langford hit a basket with 2:31 remaining in the quarter to tie the score at eight, but Barren County hit a basket to take a two point lead, 10-8.

England scored again to tie the score, followed by a three point play by Dalton for a three point edge, 13-10.

Barren County cut the lead to one with 22 seconds on the clock, but Dalton answered with a bucket as time ran out in the first period, 15-12.

Dalton picked up where he left off in the first quarter by scoring a basket in the first 10 seconds of the second quarter for a 17-12 Bulldog lead.

Barren County scored back-to-back goals to cut the lead to one point, but a three pointer by Joe Davis put the Dawgs up by four points, 20-16.

During the final four minutes of the second quarter, both teams struggled from the floor, but it was Clinton County who led at the half, 26-23.

Barren County came out in the second half and quickly took the lead, 28-26.

Langford tied the score, but Barren County answered with back-to-back baskets.

The Bulldogs continued to battle, never giving up and finally took the lead at the end of the period when Langford hit a basket and Dalton hit a free throw with six seconds on the clock, 40-38.

As the final quarter got underway, Clinton County’s Joe Davis hit a free throw to complete a three point play for a five point lead, 48-38.

Barren County cut the lead to three on a field goal, but Langford hit two shots from the foul line to regain the five point lead, 45-40.

A fouled three pointer putm up by a Barren County player sent the Trojan to the line for three shots. After making three in a row, Barren County got to within two points of the Dawgs, 45-43.

Clinton County wasn’t shooting a very high percentage from the floor, but still maintained composure.

Barren County got hot from the field and quickly reached a 10 point lead with 2:06 remaining in the game, 59-49.

When fans thought all hope was lost, Clinton County dug deep and put together a 13-4 run in the final two minutes that would give them a chance for the tie.

With 13 seconds of the clock, Lance Claywell hit a three pointer from the right corner to put the Dawgs to within three points, 62-59.

Barren County was then fouled and went to the line for two shots. After hitting only one, Clinton County came down and tried to get another three pointer to fall, but Ryan Beard’s shot was off as Senior Ethan Cook got the rebound and immedately put the block-shot up to get to within two points, 63-61.

With 1.4 remaining, Clinton County sent Barren County to the line for two shots. After the first one went in, Barren County missed the second. Down by three points, Davis put up a three-quarter shot for the tie, but it was off the mark, giving Barren County the three point win, 64-61.

On a more postitive note for Clinton County, with 1:24 remaining in the game, Dalton stole the ball from Barren County and drove in for a left-handed layup. That basket, gave Dalton his 1,000th career point for Clinton County. He finished the game with 16 points.

Individual scoring for Clintoin County was:

England 17

Dalton 16

Langford 14

Davis 9

Claywell 3

Cook 2

Clinton County 76

Monticello 40

Clinton County’s game Tuesday night wasn’t much of a game for the Bulldogs. It did give a “W” to the win column, but the score was more lopsided for Bulldogs and ran the risk of getting a player hurt. As luck would have it, all of the Dawgs made it through the game injury free and picked up a massive 76-40 win.

During the first quarter, Clinton County scored an impressive 35 points in the first eight minutes, while holding Monticello to only six points.

Clinton County scored 20 points in the second quarter as the Trojans put up 13 on the board for a halftime score of 55-19.

As the second half got underway, Clinton County coasted for the remainder of the game, even though Monticello outscored the Dawgs, 13-10 in the third quarter.

The damage had already been done by the final quarter as the Dawgs scored 11 points to Monticello’s eight, for a final of 76-40.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Colby Langford 21

F. England 13

Dalton 10

Beard 7

McWhorter 4

Claywell 4

Nelson 4

Davis 4

Tallent 3

G. England 2

Gibson 2

Colin Langford 1

Anderson 1

Clinton County will play again Thursday in the 16th District Championship game against the winner of the Russell County/Cumberland County game that was held on Tuesday night, too late for press deadline.

The championship game is set for a 7 p.m. tip off at Cumberland County High School.

Josh Tallent went in for a layup Monday night during Clinton County’s 68-29 route over Metcalfe County in the district tournament. Clinton County advanced to the finals on Thursday night.

Ethan Cook drove the lane during Monday night’s first round of the 16th District Tournament against Metcalfe County. Cook finished with three points.

1,000 and counting …

Keifer Dalton became the newest member of Clinton County’s 1,000 point club Thursday night in the second half against Barren County. The photo above is the basket that gave Dalton his 1,000th point for his career. He finished with 16 points on the night.