By THOMAS P. WEAVER

HORIZON Editor

JAMESTOWN-With a come-from-behind victory here Saturday, the Clay County Lady Bulldog basketball team notched a pair of top-three tournament finishes over the holiday break.

The Lady Dawgs snatched third-place from Maplewood (13-4) in Sgt. York’s Southeastern Christmas Invitational when Rachel Copass laid in the game-winner as time expired in the consolation game, after finishing as the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic runners-up following a championship loss to the host school Southwestern, KY—the defending Kentucky state runner-up.

Clay County got their shot at the title north of the border with wins over John Hardin, KY and Somerset, KY, before claiming victory in their Sgt. York opener here versus Clay County, KY on another Copass buzzer-beater and falling to Cloudland (12-2) by two points in the waning seconds of their semifinal.

A 4-2 run over the past two weeks pushed their overall record to 9-6 and the Lady Dawgs, whose half-dozen losses have come to teams with a combined record of 72-15, were set to carry their 3-1 conference mark back into District 6-A play at Jackson County (1-12, 0-3) Tuesday night.

Following their game downriver in Gainesboro, a road trip to Pickett County (15-1, 3-1) awaits Friday, a contest at Macon County (14-1) comes Saturday, and a home game versus Red Boiling Springs (13-4, 3-0) is set for next Tuesday.

Clay County heads into the heart of their league schedule with seasoned junior duo Katie Arms (13 ppg.) and Rachel Copass (11 ppg., 5 rpg., 5 apg.) healthy and leading the way, but the team’s freshman leading scorer Briley Burchett (13.6 ppg., 7 rpg.)—who missed the Lady Dawgs’ second tournament here last week—is still questionable with an ankle injury she suffered in the Somerset, KY event’s championship game.

Arms and Copass were both named to the Sgt. York Invitational All-Tournament Team and they, along with Burchett before her injury, also had good outings in the Kentucky event, where no individual honors were awarded.

All but one of the upcoming Lady Dawg contests will be carried live by the Horizon Sports Network online at www.dalehollowhorizon.com as a part of the live-stream broadcast affiliate’s District 6-A Showcase coverage, with the Macon County contest being covered by WLIV 104.7 FM (www.wlivradio.com).

Sgt. York Consolation

Lady Dawgs………50

Maplewood……….48

Clay County fought back from 17 points down to finish third in the Sgt. York Invitational with a 50-48 win over Maplewood, and the comeback was completed when Rachel Copass drove the lane to drop in the game-winning shot as time expired.

Before Copass’ driving dagger found its mark and after falling behind 34-17 at intermission, a combination of shutdown defense and 24 second-half points from Katie Arms got the Lady Dawgs in position to win the game.

The Lady Panthers buried a half-dozen three-pointers in the opening two quarters en route to outscoring Clay County 20-9 in the first and 14-8 in the second, but the Lady Dawgs stepped up their intensity in the second half and only surrendered a total of 14 Maplewood points the remainder of the contest.

Meanwhile, Arms lit up the scoreboard and finished with a game-high 27 points.

She scored all but two of Clay County’s 14 third-quarter points to help her team narrow the margin to 40-31 heading into the final frame, before sinking the tying bucket with 40 seconds to play to set up the Copass game-winner—which capped her 12-point outing.

LADY DAWGS (50)-Arms 27, Copass 12, Izabella Hale 5, Lauren Weaver 3, Eliza Jenkins 2, Abby Head 1.

Sgt. York Semifinal

Lady Dawgs………50

Cloudland..……….52

Clay County came up two points shy of advancing to the Sgt. York Championship with a 52-50 semifinal loss to Cloudland in what was a tight game from start to finish here last Friday.

Though they played from behind most of the way, the Lady Dawgs only trailed 21-20 at the half and 38-35 heading into the fourth quarter, where Marlee Ashlock tied it at 48 with 1:30 remaining with a three-pointer.

Arms then answered a Cloudland free throw with two of her team-high 15 points to hand Clay County their only lead (50-49) of the contest with 42.1 seconds to play, but it didn’t last.

The Lady Highlanders completed a traditional three-point play with just over six ticks left on the clock, which accounted for the final margin when an Arms’ desperation three caromed off the rim.

LADY DAWGS (50)-Arms 15, Ashlock 9, Copass 9, Cherokee Upton 8, Jenkins 3, Hale 2, Head 2, Zoe Hayes 2.

Sgt. York Quarterfinal

Lady Dawgs………60

Clay Co. (KY)…….58

The Lady Dawgs rode a Rachel Copass buzzer-beating jumper from the free-throw-line elbow to a 60-58 victory over Clay County, KY in their Sgt. York opener here last Thursday.

After leading by 10 both at halftime (38-28) and heading into the fourth quarter (52-42), the Lady Bulldogs let the Lady Tigers claw back into the game in the final period with an 11-0 run.

Despite four Lady Dawgs—Arms (22), Copass (11), Hale (10), and Ashlock (9)—scoring in or coming close to double figures, the other Clay County team claimed a 56-55 lead on a three-pointer with 3:12 to play.

Ashlock pulled the Lady Dawgs back ahead 58-56 with a trey of her own at the two-minute mark, before the Lady Tigers knotted it back up and Copass answered with the first of her pair of game-winners in the tournament.

LADY DAWGS (60)-Arms 22, Copass 11, Hale 10, Ashlock 9, Upton 5, Weaver 3.

Holiday Hoops Final

Lady Dawgs………45

Southwestern…….71

SOMERSET (KY)-After advancing to the Lake Cumberland Holiday Hoops Classic final here on December 29, Clay County’s six game winning streak ended with a 71-45 loss to the host school Southwestern High School.

Early in the contest, the Lady Dawgs lost leading scorer Briley Burchett to foul trouble when she picked up her third less than three minutes in.  Then when she came back in the game early in the second half, Burchett went down with an ankle injury and has yet to return to action.

Without Burchett in the lineup, the Lady Warriors put together a 22-0 run spanning parts of the first and second quarters to put the game away early.

They led 40-17 at the half, before cruising to the easy championship victory, leaving Clay County holding the runner-up trophy.

LADY DAWGS (45)-Copass 10, Arms 7, Upton 7, Hale 7, Weaver 4, Jenkins 3, Hannah Raines 3, Ashlock 2, Head 2.

Holiday Hoops Classic

Lady Dawgs………49

Somerset………….42

Despite trailing the entirety of the first three quarters in their second game of the Holiday Hoops Classic, Clay County put together a final-frame rally to beat Somerset here on their home floor by a score of 49-42.

Cherokee Upton buried a three on the Lady Dawgs opening possession of the fourth quarter to give her team their first lead, before Clay County outscored the Lady Briar Jumpers 18-9 down the stretch to win their sixth consecutive game.

LADY DAWGS (49)-Burchett 11, Arms 10, Upton 9, Copass 6, Hale 4, Weaver 3, Ashlock 2, Jenkins 2, Hayes 2.

Holiday Hoops Classic

Lady Dawgs………62

John Hardin……….44

Though Clay County fell behind 40-34 to John Hardin, KY by halftime, the Lady Dawgs went on to win their Holiday Hoops opener by a score of 62-44 behind a game-high 21 points from Briley Burchett and 15 each from Katie Arms and Rachel Copass.

With her team trailing 34-33 midway through the third period, Copass sparked a Clay County 14-0 run that ended with the Lady Dawgs up 45-34 early in the fourth quarter.

She, Burchett, and Arms then poured it on from there to help their team outscore their opponent 22-10 in the final frame and secure the victory.

LADY DAWGS (62)-Burchett 21, Arms 15, Copass 15, Jenkins 5, Ashlock 2, Hayes 2, Kelcee Rhoton 2.