By THOMAS P. WEAVER
HORIZON Editor

MURFRESSBORO-The Clay County Bulldog basketball team took the road less traveled to the Class A State Tournament here last week for the fourth time in as many years, and, despite coming up short, they proved they belonged among the final eight teams left standing.
After knocking off the AP #2 team along the way and punching their ticket to the Blue Cross Basketball Championships on the road, the Dawgs battled toe-to-toe with AP #1-ranked Douglass and looked poised to pull the quarterfinal upset.
Clay County had the perfect game-plan and they executed it well, but eventually came up just shy of a second-consecutive Final Four bid.
The Red Devils prevailed 70-67, ending the Bulldogs season with an overall record of 21-13, but it didn’t come easy for the heavily-favored Memphis team.
“This group has risen to the occasion all year and I felt like we left everything we had on the floor in Murfreesboro Wednesday night,” Bulldog head coach Rob Edwards said. “Our kids fought hard, never wavered, and represented our school and community very well.”

Final frame
The Dawgs led the majority of the contest, including by a score of 55-52 heading into the final eight minutes of their season.
There Douglass got hot and Clay County didn’t.
While the Red Devils drained a trio of NBA-range threes to gain control, the Dawgs only made one of 10 field goals in the fourth quarter, but they did go a perfect 10 for 10 from the line to keep it close throughout.
“I think their style of play got to us in the fourth quarter,” Edwards said. “I think it just wore us down and we just couldn’t get anything to fall.
“Their ability to sub in 12-deep caught up with us and they turned up the pressure down the stretch.”
While their defense dominated, Douglass opened the decisive frame with one of their bombs and followed it with a layup to quickly take a two-point advantage.
Two more Red Devil triples followed, only answered by four Bulldog free throws, and Clay County fell behind 63-59 midway through the quarter.
That’s when Douglass started running clock and the Dawgs couldn’t get a shot to fall.
As time ticked down under two minutes, Clay County was forced to foul—which led to the Red Devils building a 66-61 lead with 1:30 remaining.
B.J. Emberton then scored the Dawgs’ only field goal of the period and Heath Kimes followed it up with a pair from the line, to get Clay County back within one (66-65) with 46 seconds to play.
Douglass was immediately sent to the line again and made them both, but the Dawgs couldn’t answer and fouled once more to extend the game.
This time the Red Devils came up empty, giving Clay County another chance to tie.
Rather than give up a three, Douglass fouled Landen Woodcock, who was true at the line to get it back to a one-point game (68-67) with 18 seconds left.
Again Clay County immediately fouled and the Red Devils made it a three-point game—which turned out to be the final margin after the Dawgs’ final attempt was snuffed out by the Douglass defense.
“Even when the shots weren’t falling, our guys didn’t quit,” Edwards said. “They fought until the end and that’s a testament to how much they want it.
“They are a great group of kids that have a great work ethic and that showed Wednesday night.”

Cool start
Before seeing the game slip away late, Clay County quickly opened the eyes of all the naysayers who believed they didn’t have a chance against the superior athleticism of the Red Devils.
“I think maybe we kinda questioned whether we should be there or not too,” Edwards said of his team heading into their sixth Elite 8 contest under his tutelage, “but we came out early, gained some confidence, realized we could play with them, and played as good as any team down there.”
With cool composure, the Dawgs picked apart Douglass’ full-court pressure and handled it with ease—which led to half-court offense creating open looks for Woodcock, Emberton, and Mason Sharp.
Woodcock—who paced Clay County with a game-high 26 points, including five of six shooting from behind the arc—buried a pair from distance in the opening quarter, Sharp came off the bench with five of his 15 on the night, and Emberton scored the first four of the ballgame en route to 13 total points.
“It may have been one of B.J.’s better games of the season,” Edwards said. “He stepped up to the challenge and did a good job.
“The first two he scored and the threes falling early were huge for us and really got our confidence going.”

Super 2nd
The methodical approach left the Dawgs only trailing 17-16 at the end of one and set up a second stanza where Clay County built a significant lead.
“They did everything we asked them to from the start,” Edwards said. “Going in, we knew we had to handle the press, keep them out of transition, and keep them off the glass—and we did all of those things for the most part.
“The tempo of the game was exactly where we wanted it to be.”
While Gavin Silk and Jake Ashlock controlled the boards in the paint and Kimes directed the show from the point, the game went back and forth until Sharp sparked a Clay County 8-0 run to give his team their largest lead of the contest.
“He’s not big in stature, but he’s courageous,” Edwards said of his sophomore guard. “Mason’s not afraid of any situation and he’s proven that this season.”
Sharp followed up a basket in the lane with a three-pointer, before Emberton drained a triple of his own to cap the run—which surged the Dawgs out to a 37-30 lead with under a minute remaining in the first half.
A free-throw battle ensued and ended with Clay County leading 39-33 at the break.

Tight third
“We felt pretty good at halftime,” Edwards said. “We just talked about continuing to control the tempo and being patient on offense.”
Those two things the Dawgs could control, but foul trouble they could not—as both Silk and Ashlock found their way into it.
“We needed Gavin and Jake on the floor together as much as we could,” Edwards said. “I was happy with the way those guys played, but it really hurt us when they had to come out during the third quarter.”
With them out, Douglass made a run to pull within one (42-41), but that’s when Woodcock went to work to help his team maintain the lead.
“He helped us survive the third,” Edwards said. “Having never played on the Murphy Center floor, I was a little concerned with how he would react, but that wasn’t an issue.
“He got going early and kept us in it.”
Woodcock nailed three treys in the period, including one he converted into a four-point play, and the Dawgs held on to a three-point lead heading into the final frame.
There Clay County’s rally fell short, but the postseason run was one the team will have in their pocket for motivation, as they return everyone next season.
“There’s not doubt it’s already boosted our confidence,” Edwards said of his team sporting all underclassmen. “We now know what we are capable of, but we also know what is expected of us next season.
“We’ve got everybody coming back, but we can’t take it for granted that we will be fortunate enough to get back there, because in the postseason the ball has to bounce your way.”
DAWGS (67)-Woodcock 26, Sharp 15, Emberton 13, Silk 6, Kimes 4, Ashlock 3.