Story by Rusty Ellis
The Clay County Bulldogs wrapped up a dream season in March earlier this year when they won the Class A State Championship over MAHS 62-52.
Now with the new season looming, the hunter has become the hunted and it’s time for the Bulldogs to defend their title.
“November 1,” said head coach Rob Edwards regarding when his focus shifted to defending the title. “A couple weeks ago when we started practice for this season was when we broke down and begin working on defending the ball.”
Winning a state championship is never a bad thing, though it did make scheduling out of district games a little bit tougher.
“We had a few local teams that dropped us and wouldn’t play us this year,” Edwards said. “We had to travel and pick up some larger schools. We’ve got Clinton County and Wayne County in Kentucky. We’re going to have some tough competition. We’ve got Bradley Central coming in for our Christmas classic, along with Hampton…our our-of-conference schedule is going to be pretty tough.”
It won’t get any easier in district play, as they have one of the biggest threats to the gold ball just down the road in Byrdstown. Competing in this district is nothing new for Edwards, and he’s expecting this year to be no different.
“It’s going to be like it always is,” Edwards said. “It’s going to be competitive, especially when you get to tournament time and you’ve already played each other twice…it’s hard to prepare and kids have to focus in and make plays when you get to the postseason.”
The Bulldogs return most of their team from last year, though they’ll have big shoes to fill with Gunnar Silk graduating. As of now, the idea would be for junior Jimmy Burchett to fill that role and bring some of that defensive intensity that Silk was known for.
Edwards believes Burchett will play a big role, along with a few other kids as well.
“I think it’s going to be replacement-by-committee,” Edwards said. “Jimmy’s going to play a big part, especially defensively. Eli Smith will have to guard the other team’s best player like Gunnar did. By committee right now is what we’re looking at, so it’s an opportunity for some of these young guys to get more minutes.”
Smith played the role of another unsung hero of this team last season, as he rebounded and played tough defense despite his size. If you ask Edwards, he’ll tell he that Smith is one of the most important players on this team.
“Every team needs an Eli,” Edwards said. “He does the dirty work, the things that no one else wants to do…he made a couple big plays in the state tournament just by diving for loose balls. He doesn’t get enough credit for what he does.”
Of course when it comes to scoring, Grant Strong will be the man that moves the team along at that end of the floor. The 2021 Class A Mr. Basketball winner has improved his shooting touch and will figure to be the team’s lead playmaker just like he’s done the last two seasons.
“His communication skills, another absence with Gunnar is leadership, so Grant’s got to fill that role,” Edwards said. “That’s just what I expect from him for the most part, but Grant is going to be Grant. Grant’s going to make plays, and he’s going to get people open and find them. He was our leading assist guy last year, so expect the same out of him as far as that goes.”
So that begs the question: what does a successful 2021-22 season look like for the Bulldogs?
“We just want to be competitive right out of the gate,” Edwards said. “I don’t know how we’ll look early, but effort-wise, we want to have maximum effort every game…let the chips fall where they may as the season goes along. We want to get back to Murfreesboro and have another opportunity to compete for a championship.”
It all starts on Tuesday, when the Bulldogs head to Crossville to take on Cumberland County.