Adams drops game-high 26 points in win over Gordonsville

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story appeared in print prior to the Dawgs’ Region 4-A Semifinal loss to Pickett County, which wrapped up their season. See next week’s newspaper for details from their final game.

GORDONSVILLE-The Clay County Bulldogs were set to play for a berth into the Class A Sectionals with their season on the line here Tuesday night, after eliminating District 8-A Champion Gordonsville in their Region 4-A Tournament opener Saturday night.

Playing as the #4 seed out of District 7-A, after losing the consolation game 68-52 to Clarkrange (17-14) to start the week, Clay County beat the #1 seed Tigers 61-51 on their home court over the weekend to set up Tuesday night’s Region 4-A Semifinal with conference rival Pickett County (28-4).

The Bobcats stood in the way of the Dawgs (12-17) reaching the region championship game and earning an opportunity to advance to the Sweet 16 sectional round.

Pickett County had already beaten Clay County three times this season, including in the District 7-A Semifinals by a score of 79-55.

With a win over the Bobcats, the Dawgs would face the winner of the other region semifinal between Jackson County (26-5) and Jo Byrns (18-8) here at 7 p.m. in Thursday night’s Region 4-A Boys Championship game.

A semifinal loss would end the Clay County boys’ season.

The sectionals will be played next Monday night featuring the top two teams from Region 4-A and Region 3-A, with the region champions hosting the matchups.

The boys State Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 18 at MTSU’s Murphy Center.

4-A QUARTERFINAL

Bulldogs………..……61

Gordonsville…………51

Senior Nolan Adams paced Clay County to a 61-51 victory over Gordonsville here Saturday night by scoring a game-high 26 points, and his classmates Aayden Cherry and Cole Eads also both scored double figures in the win.

The Dawgs fell behind 11-2 early, before Eads and Cherry combined to bury a trio of three-pointers to pull Clay County within two points (15-13) heading into the second quarter.

A total of 15 lead changes and five ties then played out over the next three quarters, while the largest lead for either team only reached four points until the final seconds.

Gordonsville led 28-27 at halftime and Clay County flipped the script to go ahead 39-38 heading into the final frame, as Adams lit up the scoreboard to help his team keep pace.

Cherry then opened the fourth quarter with eight-straight points to give the Dawgs a 47-43 lead, but the Tigers responded to tie the game at 51 with two minutes to play.

A steal by senior Warner Melton resulted in Adams scoring his final points to give Clay County a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with just over a minute remaining.

Cherry sank two free throws to make it 55-51 in the final 30 seconds, before Eads was fouled and Gordonsville was assessed two technical fouls that sealed the deal.

Eads calmly stepped to the line with 17 seconds on the clock and sank six-straight to account for the final margin.

DAWGS (61)-Nolan Adams 26, Aayden Cherry 15, Cole Eads 14, Warner Melton 4, Jake Copeland 2.

7-A CONSOLATION

Bulldogs………..……52

Clarkrange..…………68

The Dawgs entered the Region 4-A Tournament as a #4 seed after falling 68-52 to Clarkrange in the District 7-A Consolation game last week.

Clay County never led in the contest, as they fell behind 12-9 at the end of the first quarter and were outscored 22-12 in the second to trail 34-21 at halftime.

Aayden Cherry then posted 11 of his team-high 16 points in the third period to help the Dawgs cut their deficit to 49-42 heading into the fourth quarter.

Nolan Adams, who added 11 points in the game, pulled his team within six of the Buffaloes with a bucket early in the final frame, before Cole Eads, who scored 14 points on the night, nailed a three to get Clay County within five points (52-47).

Clarkrange then responded to increase their margin back to nine points at 56-47, before Cherry hit the Dawgs’ last three of the game to make it 56-50.

But that’s as close as Clay County would get, as Clarkrange closed out the game with a 12-0 run to win going away.

Following the Dawgs’ loss and Jackson County beating Pickett County in the conference championship game, Eads was named to the District 7-A All-Tournament team.

DAWGS (52)-Aayden Cherry 16, Cole Eads 14, Nolan Adams 11, Warner Melton 3, JuJu Villa 3, Caden Copeland 2, Fletcher Strong 2.