CCHS squads both finish District 7-A Tournament as Runners-up

LIVINGSTON-Both Clay County High School basketball teams were playing for berths into the Class A Sectionals with their seasons on the line here at Livingston Academy this week, after finishing as runners-up in their respective District 7-A Tournaments and winning their Region 4-A Tournament openers in Celina last week.

The Lady Bulldogs and the Bulldogs were each beaten by Pickett County in the Tri-Lakes Conference finals, before they dominated on their home court at week’s end to advance to region semifinals to be held here Monday and Tuesday night after HORIZON press time.

To start the week, East Robertson (24-5) stood in the way of the Lady Dawgs (15-13) reaching the girls region championship game and getting an opportunity to advance to their sixth sectional in eight years.

The Clay County girls split with the Lady Indians in the regular season, beating them 60-29 in Celina and losing a 55-54 decision at East Robertson.

With a win over the District 8-A Champion Lady Indians, the Lady Bulldogs would face the winner of the other girls semifinal between Pickett County (26-3) and Clarkrange (20-11) here at 7 p.m. in Wednesday night’s Region 4-A Girls Championship game.

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

To reach the boys region title game and earn their first sectional since they advanced to eight-straight from 2015-2022, the Dawgs (19-7) needed to eliminate Jo Byrns (20-6) in their semifinal contest Tuesday night.

The Red Devils ended the Clay County boys’ season in the region quarterfinals a year ago, and they also won the District 8-A Championship.

With a victory over Jo Byrns, the Dawgs would play for the Region 4-A Boys title here Thursday night at 7 p.m. versus either Pickett County (22-6) or Gordonsville (18-11), depending on the outcome of the semifinal between the Bobcats and Tigers.

A Red Devil win would serve as the second-straight elimination of the Clay County boys by the same team.

Girls sectionals will be held Saturday night and the boys will tip off the following Monday.  Both will feature the top two teams from Region 4-A and Region 3-A, with region champions hosting the matchups.

The girls State Tournament begins next Tuesday, March 11 and the boys Elite Eight tips off a week later on Tuesday, March 18, with both being held at MTSU’s Murphy Center.

District 7-A

title games

Both the Lady Dawgs and Dawgs entered the region tournament as District 7-A’s #2 seeds, after falling to Pickett County in their respective conference tournament title games.

The Clay County girls were beaten 78-60 by the Lady Bobcats, and their male counterparts suffered an 80-56 defeat at the hands of the Bobcats.

The Lady Dawgs hung with the defending Class A Girls State Champions early, as sophomore Haylen Garrison knocked down five three-pointers and scored 17 of her team-high 20 points in the first half.

Junior Ella Eads also added 12 of her 16 points over the same span, where Clay County built a 28-25 lead early in the second quarter.

The Pickett County girls then outscored the Lady Dawgs 22-6 to close out the first half ahead 47-34, before they maintained and added to their advantage the rest of the way.

The boys game then followed the same theme, as the Dawgs, paced by senior Lance Burchett’s team-high 18 points, finished the first quarter tied with the Bobcats.

The Pickett County boys then outscored Clay County 24-14 in the second stanza to lead by double-digits (36-26) at the break.

Despite senior Nate Adams (10) and junior Cole Eads (12) also reaching double figures in the second half, the Bobcats stretched their margin to 18 points by third-quarter’s end and went on to claim the title.

Following the conclusion of the the conference championships, Bulldogs Nolan Adams, Cole Eads, and Burchett, along with Lady Bulldogs Ella Eads, Walden, and Garrison, were named to their respective District 7-A All-Tournament teams.

Region 4-A

quarterfinals

The Clay County teams the rebounded from their district-title losses earlier in the week and easily advanced to the Region 4-A Semifinals with convincing wins here last Friday and Saturday night.

The Lady Dawgs ousted Jo Byrns by a score of 70-20, and the Dawgs ended Knowledge Academies’ season with a 58-36 victory.

Eads led the Clay County girls in their win with a team-high 18 points, while junior Baylor Walden wasn’t far behind with 12 points.

In the boys’ victory, Burchett again led the way with 17 points, while Nate Adams (15) and his junior brother Nolan (13) also added double figures.

The Lady Dawgs were dominant from the start, as they went up 22-0 before the Lady Red Devils got on the board.  They then led by 30 at the break, before cruising to the 50-point win.

In contrast to how the girls game began, the Dawgs trailed 18-13 early in the second quarter of their title contest, before ripping off a 16-0 run to close out the first half ahead 29-18.

They then extended their unanswered scoring streak to 24-0 midway through the third period and went on to claim the 22-point victory.

BOX SCORES

February 24th

Lady Bulldogs:

22, 12, 9, 17—60

Pickett County:

23, 24, 12, 19—78

LADY DAWGS (60)-Haylen Garrison 20, Ella Eads 16, Brooklyn Scott 7, Laci Wix 5, Baylor Walden 4, Kaleah Crawford 3, Emmy Carr 3, Natalie Smith 1, Jenna Thompson 1.

February 25th

Bulldogs:

12, 14, 12, 18—56

Pickett County:

12, 24, 20, 24—80

DAWGS (56)-Lance Burchett 18, Cole Eads 12, Nate Adams 10, Nolan Adams 7, Hayden Adams 4, Isaiah Burnette 3, Jake Copeland 2.

February 28th

Lady Bulldogs:

25, 14, 18, 13—70

Jo Byrns:

4, 5, 9, 2—20

LADY DAWGS (70)-Ella Eads 18, Baylor Walden 12, Claire Kendall 8, Laci Wix 7, Haylen Garrison 7, Haylee Roberts 6, Kailey Brown 3, Kaleah Crawford 3, Emmy Carr 2, Brooklyn Scott 2, Lila Birdwell 2.

March 1st

Bulldogs:

11, 18, 21, 8—58

Knowledge Acad.:

14, 4, 7, 11—36

DAWGS (58)-Lance Burchett 17, Nate Adams 15, Nolan Adams 13, Cole Eads 6, Hayden Adams 5, Jake Copeland 2.