CELINA-The Clay County High School basketball teams kicked off the New Year by sweeping Red Boiling Springs in their first District 7-A matchups of the season.

The Lady Dawgs downed the RBS girls 33-21 in a defensive struggle to improve to 9-5 on the season, while the Dawgs dominated the other Bulldog team 78-47 to move to 8-6 on the year.

The Clay County boys are being led in scoring by senior Nolan Adams, who is averaging 17.4 points per game, while his classmates Cole Eads (12.7 ppg.), Warner Melton (9.5 ppg.), and Aayden Cherry (8.4 ppg.) also have good averages.  Adams also leads his team in rebounds, assists, and steals.

Senior Ella Eads is pacing the Lady Dawgs in scoring with 14.6 points per game, while juniors Haylen Garrison (12.9 ppg.) and Natalie Smith (10.2 ppg.) are also averaging double figures.  Smith leads in rebounds and assists, while Garrison is the steal leader.

Conference play was set to continue this week for both teams, as they were scheduled to travel to Jackson County Tuesday night after HORIZON press time, before hosting Pickett County here Friday night and making the trip to Clarkrange next Tuesday, January 20.

All three of those doubleheaders, along with many more to come, will be carried live by the Horizon Sports Network on the Dale Hollow Horizon Facebook page and online at dalehollowhorizon.com.

Lady Dawgs…….….33

Red Boiling..….……21

Points were at a premium in a 33-21 Clay County victory over Red Boiling Springs here in the girls game last week, as both teams struggled to find the basket throughout the contest.

Ella Eads and Haylen Garrison did break into double figures with 10 points apiece in the Lady Dawgs’ victory, but six of each of their totals came in the opening quarter that ended with Clay County ahead 14-10.

The ensuing three quarters then featured a total of 11, 10, and nine points combined.

The Lady Dawgs outscored RBS 7-4 in the second stanza to lead 21-14 at the break, before they topped them 6-4 in the third to go ahead by nine points (27-18) heading into the final frame.

There they finished off their 12-point win by outscoring RBS 6-3 down the stretch.

LADY DAWGS (33)-Ella Eads 10, Haylen Garrison 10, Natalie Smith 7, Brooklyn Scott 2, Kaleah Crawford 2, Tyla Adams 2.

Dawgs……….…..….78

Red Boiling..….……47

After trailing by five at the end of the first quarter, Clay County rallied to blow out Red Boiling Springs 78-47 in the boys game held here last week.

Down 11-6, the Dawgs opened the second stanza with a 13-0 run and posted 35 points in the period to surge ahead of the other Bulldog team 40-26 at halftime.

Nolan Adams dropped 15 of his team-high 21 points in the scoring onslaught, while Warner Melton and Aayden Cherry also contributed to the comeback and finished with 12 and 11 points respectively.

Things only got worse for RBS in the second half, as the Dawgs ballooned their margin to 26 points by the end of the third quarter, before they went on to win by 31.

DAWGS (78)-Nolan Adams 21, Warner Melton 12, Aayden Cherry 11, Cole Eads 9, Jake Copeland 6, Caden Copeland 5, Parker Upchurch 5, Brayden Baskerville 4, Easton Garner 3, JuJu Villa 2.