Both squads have four to score double figures in wins over East Robertson

CELINA-Both the Clay County boys and girls won their home openers here last Friday night, as they swept East Robertson in double-header action at Joe Sims Gym.

The Lady Dawgs got their first win of the season with a 60-29 blowout of the Lady Indians to improve to 1-4, after they fell 51-43 at Macon County earlier in the week, while the Dawgs won their second-straight contest here over the Indians to get to 2-1 on the season.

They downed East Robertson 68-61 and beat Macon County handily by a score of 57-37.

Both teams were traveling to Livingston Academy (LA) Tuesday night after HORIZON press time, before taking a trip to Monterey Friday for a game to be carried live by the Horizon Sports Network (see related story).

To start next week, the Clay County Squads will host Jellico on Monday and play home rematches with LA Tuesday.

Lady Bulldogs

are settling in

After a slow start, the Lady Bulldogs settled in and played solid basketball last week, as they battled with neighboring Macon County and notched their first victory over East Robertson.

Outside of a three-point second quarter against the Tigerettes, the Clay County girls have found a rhythm.

Macon County outscored them 14-3 in that decisive period to claim a 28-13 halftime lead, but behind double-figures from both junior Baylor Walden and sophomore Natalie Smith, the Lady Dawgs kept pace in the second half.

They cut the margin to 38-27 heading into the final frame and got as close as five points late in the fourth quarter, before Macon County made their free throws down the stretch to claim the eight-point victory.

Walden led the way with 12 and Smith scored 11, while junior Ella Eads posted eight points.  Senior Laci Wix (5), sophomore Haylen Garrison (5), and junior Claire Kendall (2) also scored in the loss.

Against East Robertson, the Lady Dawg defense held the Lady Indians to single digits in all but one quarter, while four Clay County girls scored double-digits.

Garrison led the way with 13, Wix had 12, Smith scored 11, and Eads added 10 in the win.

A hot start jumped Clay County out to a 14-5 lead at the end of the the first quarter and they never looked back, as Walden (5), Kendall (4), junior Kailey Brown (2), freshman Brooklyn Scott (2), and sophomore Jenna Thompson (1) also added points in the victory.

Dawgs finding

out how to win 

After dropping their season opener, it didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to put it all together, as they won back-to-back games over Macon County and East Robertson.

The Tigers were no match for the Clay County boys, as junior Nolan Adams (18), and seniors Nate Adams (14) and Lance Burchett (14) all broke into double figures in the the 20-point win.

Juniors Cole Eads (9) and Warner Melton (2) also found the basket in the victory, where Burchett had a 10-point second quarter to surge Clay County ahead 28-20 at the break.

Nolan Adams then put up eight in the final frame, as the Dawgs cruised to their first victory.

Then against East Robertson, Burchett led the way with 20 points, while Nate Adams (12), Eads (12), and Melton (10) joined him with double-digit scoring.

Senior Hayden Adams (9) and his junior brother Reece Adams (5) also added points in the paint in the win, where the Dawgs outscored the Indians 20-12 in the first period and maintained a good margin throughout.

Melton buried a trio of first-half three-pointers to kick-start Clay County, while Burchett, Eads, and Nate Adams followed suit with shots from distance of their own.

East Robertson did get as close as six points in the fourth quarter, but Burchett went nine of 10 from the free throw line in the contest—including five for six in the final frame, which helped secure the victory.