Clay County coaches comment on upcoming District 7-A Tournament

JELLICO-With a pair of wins here on the road at Jellico last Friday night, both Clay County High School basketball teams closed out the regular season on a high note, ahead of this week’s District 7-A Tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 13-12 overall, after beating Jackson County and Jellico in back-to-back games, while the Bulldogs ran their record to 17-6 by splitting with the same two schools last week.

The Clay County girls begin their postseason campaign Thursday in the District 7-A semifinals at Livingston Academy, when they enter as the #2 seed to take on #3 seed Clarkrange at 8 p.m. with a championship-game appearance on the line.

A win over the Lady Buffaloes would set up a potential matchup with the #1 seed Pickett County Lady Bobcats, who swept the league this year and are expected to advance to the district finals.

“I think it’s going to be a really good tournament,” Lady Bulldog head coach Matt Walker said, before acknowledging the Lady Bobcats were the clear favorite.  “What really separates Pickett is their experience, and then you’ve got us, the inexperienced team, trying to find our way to the top.”

Walker explained his team’s goal was to get another opportunity at Pickett, but he knows the road to get there will be tough with Clarkrange standing in the way, especially after the Lady Dawgs swept them in the regular season.

He explained the Lady Buffaloes will be “hard to beat” a third time and said “it should be an exciting game.”

The Bulldogs, led by veteran head coach Rob Edwards, will also begin tournament play in the semifinal round, as the #3 seed Dawgs are set to face #2 seed Gordonsville Friday night at 8 p.m.

The Clay County boys will need to get past the Tigers to have a chance at redemption against Pickett County in the District 7-A Championship, where the Bobcats are expected to land.

“Obviously we would like to get there and have an opportunity to play them again,” Edwards said of top-seeded Pickett County, who dominated his team twice already this year.  “I think without a doubt they are the favorite—they’ve just been dominant outside of that last game.”

Edwards was referring to the Bobcats’ loss at Gordonsville last week, which is the only blemish on their 7-1 conference record, and he explained his team will have their hands full in the seminal matchup with the Tigers—who the Dawgs split with in the regular season.

“It will be just like the other two,” Edwards said.  “I expect it to be a battle, maybe a one or two possession game at the end.”

See this year’s District 7-A Tournament Digest inside this edition for more details on the conference tournament.

Senior Night split

While the Lady Dawgs downed the Lady Blue Devils from Gainesboro 60-52, the Clay County boys didn’t fair as well with Jackson County, as the Dawgs fell by a score of 43-58.

Balanced scoring from juniors Ella Eads (16) and Baylor Walden (12), and sophomores Haylen Garrison (17) and Natalie Smith (10) paced the Clay County girls to victory, but just two Bulldogs in double figures wasn’t enough for the boys to come out on top.

Senior Lance Burchett (12) and junior Nolan Adams (15) ended up having good games against the Blue Devils, but the Jackson County boys got hot down the stretch to put the game away.

Senior Laci Wix also pulled down a whopping 17 rebounds in the Lady Dawgs’ Senior Night win over Jackson County.

Sweep at Jellico

Clay County made a successful trip to Jellico for their regular-season finales, as the Lady Dawgs buried a program record 18 three-pointers to beat the Lady Blue Devils 86-54 and the Dawgs had three players score 20 points or more in their 77-68 win.

Garrison led the Clay County girls with 20 points, while Eads and freshman Kaleah Crawford both added 14 points in the victory, where a total of nine Lady Dawgs made a three-point basket.

Nolan Adams (24), junior Cole Eads (23), and Burchett (20) combined for 67 points, while junior Warner Melton also scored double-digits with 10 points in the Dawgs win over the Blue Devils.

Like the Lady Dawgs, the Clay County boys were hot from behind the arc, as they made a total of 15 three-pointers in the contest.

Eads and Adams also recorded double-doubles, as they pulled down 14 and 10 rebounds respectively in the road win.  Additionally, Adams added eight assists and just missed posting a triple-double.

BOX SCORES

February 11th

Lady Bulldogs:

22, 15, 10, 13—60

Jackson County:

10, 14, 18, 10—52

LADY DAWGS (60)-Haylen Garrison 17, Ella Eads 16, Baylor Walden 12, Natalie Smith 10, Claire Kendall 3, Laci Wix 2.

Bulldogs:

14, 10, 14, 5—43

Jackson County:

14, 17, 8, 19—58

DAWGS (43)-Nolan Adams 15, Lance Burchett 12, Cole Eads 7, Nate Adams 5, Jake Copeland 2, Caden Copeland 2.

February 14th

Lady Bulldogs:

24, 25, 25, 12—86

Jellico:

9, 12, 10, 23—54

LADY DAWGS (86)-Haylen Garrison 20, Ella Eads 14, Kaleah Crawford 14, Jenna Thompson 9, Baylor Walden 7, Laci Wix 5, Natalie Smith 5, Brooklyn Scott 4, Emmy Carr 3, Haylee Roberts 3, Claire Kendall 2.

Bulldogs:

21, 12, 18, 26—77

Jellico:

18, 17, 18, 15—68

DAWGS (77)-Nolan Adams 24, Cole Eads 23, Lance Burchett 20, Warner Melton 10.