Clay teams to play at home on both Thursday and Friday

CELINA-The Clay County High School basketball teams had a busy week ahead of them, as they were set to host three games in four days here in Joe Sims Gym.

Both the Lady Bulldogs and the Bulldogs welcomed Macon County to town Tuesday night after HORIZON press time, where the Clay County girls fell 52-40 and the boys won 54-48 (see details next week).

Both teams were also scheduled to play back-to-back home games with Jellico and Friendship Christian on Thursday and Friday.

Prior to their Macon County matchup, the Lady Dawgs headed into the week with a 2-1 record. They won their first pair of games over Watertown and Jellico, before dropping a close one to Van Buren County.

The Dawgs also faced the same three teams and came away with a 1-2 mark.  They won their opener with Watertown, before losing to both Jellico and Van Buren County by a combined three points.

The Clay County girls are being led in scoring so far by junior Haylen Garrison, who made six three-pointers in each of her last two games.  Seniors Ella Eads and Baylor Walden are also off to good starts, along with junior Natalie Smith, and sophomores Brooklyn Scott and Kaleah Crawford.

Senior Aayden Cherry is currently the top scorer for the Bulldogs, after dropping 31 points at Jellico and posting another double-figure outing.  Cherry’s classmates Nolan Adams, Cole Eads, and Warner Melton are also playing well, along with juniors Julien Villa and Jake Copeland, sophomore Caden Copeland, and freshmen Parker Upchurch and Easton Garner.

All three of Clay County’s games this week were set to be carried live by the Horizon Sports Network on the Dale Hollow Horizon Facebook page.

Lady Dawgs…….….87

Jellico….……………51

JELLICO-Haylen Garrison paced the Lady Dawgs to an 87-51 blowout of Jellico here last week with 24 points, including six made three-pointers, while Kaleah Crawford (19), Ella Eads (16), and Brooklyn Scott (12) joined her in double-digit scoring.

Clay County blew the game open with 29 second-quarter points to lead 46-33 at halftime, before posting an identical number in the third quarter and cruising to the 36-point victory.

LADY DAWGS (87)-Garrison 24, Crawford 19, Eads 16, Scott 12, Natalie Smith 7, Chanley Rich 7, Izzie Smith 2.

Dawgs……………….66

Jellico………..………68

JELLICO-The Dawgs came just shy of a comeback victory here at Jellico behind 31 points from Aayden Cherry and 14 more from Warner Melton, but ended up falling 68-66 on the road.

Clay County stayed within striking distance of the Blue Devils throughout, only trailing 33-36 at halftime and 49-52 heading into the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t muster enough down the stretch to come away with the win.

DAWGS (66)-Aayden Cherry 31, Warner Melton 14, Cole Eads 6, Caden Copeland 6, Easton Garner 6, Parker Upchurch 3.

Lady Dawgs…….….53

Van Buren..…………58

CELINA-After leading by six at halftime and 44-39 heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Dawgs couldn’t fend off Van Buren County in the final frame and lost their first game of the season 53-58.

Haylen Garrison stayed hot behind the arc with six three-point baskets and 20 points to lead Clay County.

Natalie Smith joined Garrison in double figures with 16 points to help the Lady Dawgs build their lead, but Van Buren County outscored Clay County 18-9 in the fourth quarter to claim the five-point victory.

LADY DAWGS (53)-Haylen Garrison 20, Natalie Smith 16, Ella Eads 6, Baylor Walden 6, Kaleah Crawford 3, Brooklyn Scott 2.

Dawgs……………….46

Van Buren…..………47

CELINA-Much like the Clay County girls, the Dawgs couldn’t hold on down the stretch in their 46-47 loss to Van Buren County last week.

Cole Eads’ 12 points and nine each from Nolan Adams and Warner Melton helped the Clay County boys lead 24-22 at halftime and 40-36 headed into the fourth quarter, where the Eagles outscored them 11-6 to take the one-point win.

DAWGS (46)-Cole Eads 12, Nolan Adams 9, Warner Melton 9, Jake Copeland 8, Caden Copeland 6, Aayden Cherry 2.