The Clinton County Bulldogs left it all on the floor last Tuesday night during the first round of the 4th Region Tournament at WKU’s Diddle Arena, but the effort wasn’t good enough to move on to the semi-finals as Barren County won, 71-66.

Clinton County went into the tournament as a district runner-up, after being defeated by Russell County in the district finals two weeks ago.

Tuesday night’s game started off on a good note for Clinton County as Keifer Dalton went for 14 points in the first quarter.

Clinton County’s first lead of the game came at the 6:15 mark when Ryan Beard hit a three pointer, 3-2.

Barren County scored on its next possession for a 4-3 lead, but a missed jumper by Davis led to getting his own rebound and making a put back for a 5-4 Clinton County lead at the 5:43 mark.

The Trojans came back and scored to regain the lead, but a 7-0 run by Dalton put the Dawgs up 12-6. Barren County scored a three pointer to stop the bleeding, but Dalton went to work again, scoring the next seven points for the Dawgs to finish the quarter with a 21-18 lead.

During the second quarter, Dalton picked up where he left off in the first quarter by making a jumper for a 23-18 lead.

Barren County proved to be deadly from the three point line as the Trojans hit another three pointer to cut the lead to two points with 7:26 on the clock.

During the next three minutes, Clinton County held Barren County on defense while putting up six unanswered points for a 29-21 lead.

Barren County’s three point shooting kept them in the game during the first half. Along with a three pointer, Barren hit a field goal and a free throw to cut the Dawgs’ lead to two points with 3:36 on the clock, 29-27.

With 3:20 on the clock, Colby Langford hit a jumper in the lane for his eighth point of the game, and his 1,000th career point as a Bulldog.

Barren County would score only three more points for the remainder of the period, while Clinton County put up eight points to lead at the half, 37-30.

During the second half, Clinton County went cold from the floor and allowed Barren County to get back in the game and take the lead at the 6:29 mark, 40-39.

The third quarter saw Clinton County get down by as much as five points at the 5:16 mark, 46-41.

Barren County put up an impressive 30 points during the third quarter alone, while Clinton County scored 20 in the period.

With Clinton County being up seven at halftime, and the quarter talley of 30-20 in favor of Barren County, Clinton County was down by three points, 60-57, at the start of the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, both teams struggled from the floor. A 5:17 scoring drought for both teams saw Barren County make two free throws at the 2:43 mark for a five point advantage, 62-57.

Clinton County hit three free throws to get to within two points, 62-60, but Barren County hit two free throws for a four point lead with 1:25 on the clock.

With 45 seconds remaining, Barren County led, 66-62 after hitting only one of two from the foul line.

Dalton pushed the ball down the floor for a shot opportunity and was fouled, hitting both free throws to trail by two, 66-64 with 37 seconds of the clock.

Clinton County was forced to foul on the next trip to stop the clock. Barren County hit one of two from the line for a three point lead, 67-64.

With 16 seconds remaining in the game, Clinton County fouled a Barren County player who hit both attempts for a 69-64 lead over the Dawgs.

As the clock wound down, Dalton was fouled, hitting both free throws to trail by three points, 69-66.

Barren County sealed the deal on a field goal made at the 10 second mark on a full court pass for a wide open layup, 71-66. That basket was the final basket for the game, and the end of the Bulldogs’ season.

Clinton County finished the year with an 18-12 record.

From the field, Clinton County hit 23 of 48 for 47.9 percent, including four of 13 from the three point line for 30.8 percent.

From the foul line, the Dawgs hit 16 of 20 for the game for 80 percent. Clinton County committed only nine turnovers for the game, while pulling down 31 rebounds. Frank England finished the game with a team high nine rebounds for his final game as a Bulldog.

Individual scoring for Clinton County was:

Dalton 29

Langford 26

Beard 7

Davis 4

Clinton County’s Keifer Dalton led all scores in the game against Barren County at WKU’s Diddle Arena. Dalton finished with 29 points, but the Dawgs lost the contest, 71-66.

With his fourth basket of the game, Colby Langford moved into Clinton County’s 1,000 point club in the first round of the 4th Region Tournament against Barren County. He finished the game with 26 points.