CCHS teams travel to RBS Friday for second Battle of the Bulldogs

CELINA-After dropping all four of their games last week, the District 7-A gauntlet was set to continue this week for the Clay County High School basketball teams.

Defeats at Jackson County and at home versus Pickett County, two schools with three Top-5 ranked teams in the latest statewide poll, ran both CCHS squads’ conference records to 1-2, marks they were looking to improve here against Clarkrange Tuesday night after HORIZON press time and at Red Boiling Springs on Friday.

The Lady Dawgs overall record sat at 9-7 heading into action with the Lady Buffaloes, while the Dawgs were an even 8-8 to start the week.

Each team had beaten Red Boiling Springs earlier this month for their lone league victory, before they were swept by the top two teams in the district last week.

In Gainesboro, the Lady Dawgs lost a 45-44 heartbreaker to the #2-ranked Lady Blue Devils, while the Dawgs were blown out 60-27 by the #3-ranked Jackson County boys.

The roles then reversed versus Pickett County, as the girls game was no contest with the Lady Bobcats dominating 67-29, before the #2-ranked Bobcats came from behind to win a competitive boys game that was closer than the 64-50 final score depicts.

In the lop-sided losses, the Clay County teams suffered shooting woes, while their opponents were the aggressor and shot the ball well.

The Dawgs hit just 25% of their attempts for the game, while Jackson County outscored them 20-7 in the first quarter and never looked back in the 31-point win where no Clay County boy reached double-digit scoring.

The Clay County girls shot a similar percentage in their loss to Pickett County, where senior Ella Eads was the only Lady Dawg to score in double figures with 11 points.

The Lady Bobcats led by 14 at halftime, after the Lady Dawgs only scored two second-quarter points, before the Pickett County girls poured it on in the second half to win going away.

Prior to that tough outing, the Clay County girls played one of their best games of the season at Jackson County, where junior Natalie Smith paced the Lady Dawgs with 12 points and both Eads and junior Haylen Garrison added 10 points apiece.

The Lady Blue Devils led throughout, but only by as many as seven points, before a Smith three-pointer tied the game at 39 midway through the fourth quarter, and Eads and sophomore Kaleah Crawford combined to score five-straight points giving Clay County a 44-41 lead with under two minutes to play.

Jackson County then cut the Lady Dawg margin to one point with under a minute remaining, before a foul was called on the final play of the game to send a Lady Blue Devil to the line, where she sank both free throws to seal Clay County’s fate.

Though it wasn’t decided in the waning seconds, the Dawgs’ performance against Pickett County was similar to their female counterparts’ effort at Jackson County, as they battled the Bobcats throughout.

Senior Nolan Adams led the Clay County boys with 20 points, while his classmate Cole Eads chipped in 16 points to help the Dawgs lead by four at the end of the first quarter and stay tied at 32 with the Bobcats at halftime.

The duo made back-to-back baskets to give Clay County a four-point lead in the third quarter, before they kept pace to only trail 46-44 heading into the final frame.

There Pickett County maintained their lead, which was sliced to six points by an Adams’ three-pointer with three minutes to play, but the Bobcats stretched it out from there at the free throw line and went on to win by 14 points.

Besides the big district games this week at home against Clarkrange and at Red Boiling Springs, the Clay County teams will travel out of conference play to Van Buren County next Tuesday.

All three of those doubleheaders, along with many more to come, will be carried live by the Horizon Sports Network on the Dale Hollow Horizon Facebook page and online at dalehollowhorizon.com.

BOX SCORES

January 13th

Lady Bulldogs:

9, 9, 11, 15—44

Jackson County:

16, 7, 11,11—45

LADY DAWGS (44)-Natalie Smith 12, Ella Eads 10, Haylen Garrison 10, Baylor Walden 5, Brooklyn Scott 4, Kaleah Crawford 3.

Bulldogs:

7, 4, 7, 9—27

Jackson County:

20, 12, 26, 4—62

DAWGS (27)-Cole Eads 9, Nolan Adams 4, Easton Garner 4, Warner Melton 3, Isaiah Burnette 3, Brayden Baskerville 2, Caden Copeland 2.

January 16th

Lady Bulldogs:

11, 2, 10, 6—29

Pickett County:

17, 10, 16, 24—67

LADY DAWGS (29)-Ella Eads 11, Haylen Garrison 5, Baylor Walden 3, Kaleah Crawford 3, Brooklyn Scott 2, Tyla Adams 2, Chanley Rich 2, Natalie Smith 1.

Bulldogs:

17, 15, 12, 6—50

Pickett County:

13, 19, 14, 18—64

DAWGS (50)-Nolan Adams 20, Cole Eads 16, Jake Copeland 4, Aayden Cherry 3, JuJu Villa 3, Warner Melton 2, Brayden Baskerville 2.