Garrison sets a new three-point record in Christmas tournament

CROSS PLAINS-Fresh off a full slate of holiday action, the Clay County High School basketball teams will tip off a three-game road trip to ring in the New Year here Friday night at East Robertson.

They will travel to face the Indian teams a week’s end, before beginning District 7-A play at Red Boiling Springs the following Tuesday and making a trip to Pickett County on Friday, January 10.

The Lady Dawgs split a pair of games before the holiday with a win over Jellico and a close loss to Livingston Academy (LA), before beating Wartburg and falling to Meigs County in the Harriman Christmas Classic to get to 4-7 on the season.

The team has steadily improved after a slow start, and the Clay County girls have gotten a big boost from sophomore sharpshooter Haylen Garrison, who set a new single-game three-point record with 10 in the win over Wartburg.

The new mark surpasses the previous program record of nine threes made in a game by Taylor Strong at Monterey in 2017.

In the victory over Wartburg, Garrison totaled a career-high 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including 10 of 14 from distance, and she also drained five threes and led her team in scoring with 15 points against LA the game prior.

Garrison now leads the team in scoring with a 10-point average, while her classmate Natalie Smith (7 ppg.) and junior Ella Eads (9 ppg.) are nearing the double-digit mark.

Senior Laci Wix is also averaging six points and six rebounds per game for the Lady Dawgs, and she scored a career-high 20 points in the win over Jellico.

Smith also added double figures in back-to-back games, with 12 against Jellico and 10 in the LA loss.

Her final points against the Lady Wildcats pulled the Lady Dawgs within one point of LA midway through the fourth quarter, before the team from Livingston went on to claim the 46-38 hard-fought victory down the stretch.

Wix’s career outing, where she put up 12 points in the opening quarter, helped the Lady Dawgs go up 29-8 at the end of the first period, and they then cruised to the 64-23 win over Jellico.

Similarly, Garrison’s shooting display gave Wartburg no chance in Clay County’s 67-42 victory.

In Clay County’s Harriman Christmas Classic opener, she buried seven of her 10 makes from distance in the first half and added three more to open the third quarter, before reserves finished off the blowout win.

The Lady Dawgs then fell 38-56 to Meigs County in their final holiday contest, as Eads was the only Clay County player to score double-digits with 12 points. 

Dawgs’ balanced

attack paying off

After going 3-1 in action before and after the Christmas holiday, the Bulldogs are now 7-2 on the season, with one of their contests played over the stretch awaiting a ruling from the TSSAA following a power outage suspending their game with Jellico early in the fourth quarter with the Dawgs leading 62-58.

The Clay County boys are being led by senior Nate Adams’ nearly 20-point scoring average, but they also have two others averaging double figures.

Senior Lance Burchett (12 ppg.) and junior Cole Eads (10 ppg.) have been consistent throughout the season, while junior Warner Melton (7 ppg.) has also hit double-digits in recent outings.

Senior Hayden Adams joined them with 13 points in the Dawgs’ 64-53 Harriman Christmas Classic win over Cosby, where all five starters scored 10 or more points to help Clay County outlast a talented Eagle team.

Nate Adams (24) and Melton (13) both also scored double figures in a 59-43 home win over South Pittsburg prior to Christmas, and Eads wasn’t far off the mark with nine points in the victory.

Prior to that, Nate (22) and Nolan Adams (14), along with Melton (14), paced Clay County against Jellico, before LA took advantage of only one Bulldog player scoring north of 10 points to soundly claim a 58-34 win in Celina.

Burchett led the Dawgs with 15 in the loss to the Wildcats, and he also had 19 points in Clay County’s holiday tournament finale over the weekend.

Nate Adams led all scorers with 29 points in the same game, where the Dawgs beat Meigs County 79-58 and Nolan Adams also scored 13 in his return to action.

BOX SCORES

December 16th

Lady Bulldogs: 29, 9, 20, 6—64

Jellico: 8, 0, 12, 3—23

LADY DAWGS (64)-Laci Wix 20, Natalie Smith 12, Ella Eads 7, Baylor Walden 6, Claire Kendall 6, Kaleah Crawford 5, Kailey Brown 3, Haylen Garrison 2, Brooklyn Scott 2, Jenna Thompson 1.

Bulldogs: 18, 21, 23, 0—62

Jellico: 26, 14, 16, 2—58

DAWGS (62)-Nate Adams 22, Nolan Adams 14, Warner Melton 10, Lance Burchett 7, Cole Eads 7, Reece Adams 2. (Game suspended in 4th 1/4 due to power outage)

December 17th

Lady Bulldogs: 10, 9, 12, 7—38

Livingston: 15, 11, 11, 9—46

LADY DAWGS (38)-Haylen Garrison 15, Natalie Smith 10, Baylor Walden 7, Ella Eads 4, Claire Kendall 2.

Bulldogs: 6, 10, 11, 7—34

Livingston: 16, 13, 12, 17—58

DAWGS (34)-Lance Burchett 15, Nate Adams 6, Nolan Adams 4, Warner Melton 4, Cole Eads 3, Caden Copeland 2.

December 21st

Bulldogs: 19, 14, 10, 16–59

South Pitt: 12, 4, 11, 16—43

DAWGS (59)-Nate Adams 24, Warner Melton 13, Cole Eads 9, Hayden Adams 6, Lance Burchett 5, Caden Copeland 2.

December 27th

Lady Bulldogs: 18, 21, 17, 11—67

Wartburg: 8, 9, 11, 13–41

LADY DAWGS (67)-Haylen Garrison 32, Kaleah Crawford 8, Laci Wix 7, Ella Eads 7, Brooklyn Scott 4, Natalie Smith 3, Emmy Carr 3, Haylee Roberts 2, Baylor Walden 1.

Bulldogs: 20, 18, 16, 10—64

Cosby: 16, 9, 21, 7—53

DAWGS (64)-Nate Adams 15, Hayden Adams 13, Lance Burchett 13, Warner Melton 11, Cole Eads 10, Reece Adams 2.

December 28th

Lady Bulldogs: 12, 5, 10, 11—38

Meigs County: 13, 18, 6, 19—56

LADY DAWGS (38)-Ella Eads 12, Baylor Walden 8, Haylen Garrison 5, Claire Kendall 4, Laci Wix 3, Jenna Thompson 2, Lila Birdwell 2, Brooklyn Scott 2.

Bulldogs: 20, 21, 20, 18—79

Meigs County: 15, 13, 13, 17—58

DAWGS (79)-Nate Adams 29, Lance Burchett 19, Nolan Adams 13, Cole Eads 9, Warner Melton 4, Hayden Adams 3, Reece Adams 2.