By THOMAS P. WEAVER

HORIZON Editor

SOMERSET (KY)-The Clay County Bulldog basketball team won their first title of the season here over Christmas break and also secured a runner-up tournament finish while playing in a pair of holiday events the past two weeks.

The Dawgs went 3-0 here at the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic December 27-29 and won the round-robin-type Pool C Championship with a victory over the host school Southwestern, KY (9-4), after downing Phoenix International of Cincinnati, OH and Central Magnet of Murfreesboro (6-8) in the opening two rounds.

They then took part in Sgt. York’s Southeastern Christmas Invitational in Jamestown January 2-4, where they came up just short of defending their back-to-back championships with a title-game loss to the host school York Institute (9-4).

With a quarterfinal victory over Bledsoe County (2-6) and another win versus Northview Academy (11-6) in the semifinal round, Clay County finished the holiday break with a 5-1 record and headed back into conference play Tuesday night at Jackson County (7-7, 1-2) with a 13-2 overall mark and a 3-1 District 6-A record.

The Dawgs are being led by sensational sophomore Grant Strong (22 ppg., 7 rpg., 3 apg.)—who posted a career-high 34 points in last week’s semifinal round, and super senior duo Jake Ashlock (15.3 ppg., 7 rpg., 3 apg.) and Mason Sharp (11 ppg.).

The Bulldog leaders were also named to the Sgt. York Invitational All-Tournament Team and played well in the Kentucky event, where no individual honors were awarded.

Following their battle with the Blue Devils to start the week, Clay County was set to travel to Byrdstown to face conference foe Pickett County (10-5, 2-2) Friday and over to Macon County (5-11) Saturday, before returning home next Tuesday night to host neighboring-county rival Red Boiling Springs (12-6, 2-1).

All but one of their upcoming contests will be carried live by the Horizon Sports Network online at www.dalehollowhorizon.com as a part of the live-stream broadcast affiliate’s District 6-A Showcase coverage, with the Macon County contest being covered by WLIV 104.7 FM (www.wlivradio.com).

Holiday Hoops Final

Dawgs……….……60

Southwestern…….57

Clay County won the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic Pool C Championship 60-57 over the host school Southwestern, KY here on December 29 behind 25 points from Jake Ashlock and 21 more from Grant Strong.

The back-and-forth title game was close throughout, as the Dawgs led 27-23 at the half and by the same margin (40-37) heading into the final frame.

There Ashlock posted 16 of his points down the stretch to help Clay County secure the first-place trophy.

DAWGS (60)-Ashlock 25, Strong 21, Sharp 7, Jeffery Spivey 6, Gunnar Silk 1.

Holiday Hoops Classic

Dawgs……….……72

Central Magnet…..53

Clay County won their second Holiday Hoops Classic contest 72-53 over Central Magnet thanks to four Bulldogs scoring in double figures.

Grant Strong (20), Mason Sharp (15), Jake Ashlock (14), and Jefferey Spivey (11) all broke into double-digits in the contest to help the Dawgs blow the game open in the second half.

Clay County broke a 35-35 halftime tie with a huge third quarter surge, where they outscored Central Magnet 21-10 to gain control, before the Dawgs cruised to the 19-point victory.

DAWGS (72)-Strong 20, Sharp 15, Ashlock 14, Spivey 11, Silk 8, Alec Kerr 4.

Holiday Hoops Classic

Dawgs……….……93

Phoenix Int………..26

Clay County had no problem with Phoenix International in their Holiday Hoops Classic opener, as they blew out their opponent 93-26 in a game where seven Bulldogs scored or neared double figures.

The Clay County starters only played the first four minutes and were led by Grant Strong, who capped his 13-point outing by throwing down the final two for his first in-game dunk of his young career.

Reserves dominated the remainder of the game, with Alec Kerr’s 17 points leading the way and John Hamilton’s 16 not far behind.

The Dawgs led 35-4 at the end of the first quarter, before going up 62-14 at intermission and nearly posting 100 points despite a fourth-quarter running clock.

DAWGS (93)-Kerr 17, Hamilton 16, Strong 13, Mason Sharp 9, Bryce Bailey 9, Eli Smith 8, Jimmy Burchett 8, Heath Hensley 7, Carson Sharp 6.

Sgt. York Championship

Dawgs……….….…59

York………………..66

JAMESTOWN-Clay County fell short of a Sgt. York Invitational three-peat with a 66-59 loss to the host school York Institute here last Saturday night.

After winning the title both in 2017 and 2018, the Dawgs couldn’t hold off the hot-shooting Dragons for their third-straight championship.

Grant Strong did score 12 of his 15 points in the first half and Mason Sharp added 13 in the contest to help Clay County keep pace and only trail 33-30 at the break, but York blew the game open with a strong third quarter and went up by as many as 15 early in the final frame.

With the score 57-42, the Dawgs put together a 9-0 run, capped by three of Jake Ashlock’s game-high 22 points—which narrowed the Dragon margin to 57-51 with three minutes remaining.

Ashlock also cut it to five points three other times down the stretch, but that’s as close as Clay County would get, as York iced their championship at the free throw line.

DAWGS (59)-Ashlock 22, Strong 15, Sharp 13, Spivey 7, Silk 2.

Sgt. York Semifinal

Dawgs……….….…74

Northview…..……..65

Grant Strong dropped a career-high 34 points to pace Clay County to a 74-65 Sgt. York semifinal win over Northview Academy here last Friday.

Jake Ashlock also added 20 in the victory, where the Dawgs led 34-25 at halftime and increased their advantage to 53-42 heading into the fourth quarter.

There Northview cut it to four twice, but Clay County fended off their charge and held on for the nine-point victory.

DAWGS (74)-Strong 34, Ashlock 20, Sharp 9, Spivey 7, Smith 2, Silk 2.

Sgt. York Quarterfinal

Dawgs……….….…63

Bledsoe Co………..39

Clay County dominated Bledsoe County 63-39 in their Sgt. York opener behind Grant Strong’s 21 points, 17 more from Jake Ashlock, and 10 off the hand of Mason Sharp.

Though it was close early, the Dawgs stifled their opponent in the third quarter and outscored them 12-1 to gain control, before easily advancing to the semifinal round with the 24-point victory.

DAWGS (63)-Strong 21, Ashlock 17, Mason Sharp 10, Spivey 4, Silk 4, Kerr 3, Hamilton 2, Carson Sharp 2.