By Michael Lindsay
The Clay County Lady Bulldogs are state tournament bound following a come-from-behind victory at Van Buren County Saturday evening, 51-41.
“I’m so proud of this group of seniors,” said Clay County head coach Matt Walker. “This is a special group that’s near and dear to my heart. They’re great basketball players and also great role models and leaders.”
Halle Buford led Clay County with 23 points and 3 assists in the victory along with 9 points and 14 rebounds by Bella Ashlock and 8 points from Madison Hayes.
Senior Layla Bouldin led Van Buren County with 24 points.
“This may be the hardest place to play in the Upper Cumberland, especially for a game like this,” said Walker. “The gym setup, atmosphere and history are big. Part of it is a great coach (Tyler Sapp) on the other sideline and a great player in Layla Bouldin. Nothing but respect for her and her career.”
Clay County held an 8-3 lead after one quarter and pushed their advance to 8 points (13-5) via a Laci Wix three-pointer early in the second quarter.
Van Buren pulled within one possess later in the frame via a Bouldin three-pointer to make the score 15-12, but Clay County pushed ahead to lead 18-13 at halftime.
The Eaglettes opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 18 points each. A pair of Bouldin free throws with 2:59 left in the third period gave Van Buren County their first lead of the evening at 24-22.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Bouldin later in the quarter gave the Eaglettes a 30-24 lead over Clay County with 2:21 left in the frame. The Lady Dawgs closed the third quarter on a 7-2 run to trail 32-31 entering the fourth quarter.
An Ashlock free throw early in the fourth tied the game at 32 before a Buford three-pointer gave the Lady Dawgs a 35-32 lead.
Van Buren County battled back to take a 41-39 lead via a Brooke Burke basket with less than 3 minutes remaining.
Buford answered with a layup to tie the game at 41 with 2:01 remaining before Ashlock recorded back-to-back steals on the following two defensive possessions resulting in baskets for herself and Buford to give Clay County a 45-41 lead with 1:37 remaining. The Lady Dawgs recorded 2 steals and 3 layups in 24 seconds to take the 4-point lead.
“Bella Ashlock made several players on defense and turned them over,” said Walker. “She’s overcome so much in her career. We thought we could press them, but they did a great job handling the press most of the night. We hit one stretch; Bella figured it out and broke on the ball to make some plays.”
Clay County held on defensively from there as the Lady Dawgs held Van Buren County scoreless over the final 2 minutes. Celina tacked on two free throws each in the final 1:30 from Ella Eads, Buford and Hayes to secure their 51-41 victory at Van Buren County.
Clay County improves to 22-10 overall and will face Moore County in the Class 1A state tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
“I think we’ve got a chance to do some damage down there,” said Walker. “If Van Buren overcame us, they would’ve had a chance to do something down there, too. Upper Cumberland basketball, I’d put it up against anybody in the state.”
