By Michael Lindsay
The Region 4-1A boys tournament opened with an upset in the quarterfinals on Saturday as #4 seed Clay County traveled to #1 Gordonsville and defeated the Tigers, 61-51.
“This group of seniors just refused to lose tonight,” said Clay County head coach Rob Edwards. “Credit to Gordonsville; they had a great game plan and took away some stuff that we like to do. We figured out a way to score some baskets when we needed them.”
Senior Nolan Adams led the Bulldogs with 26 points followed by Aayden Cherry with 15 and Cole Eads with 14. J Foster led Gordonsville with 19 points.
Gordonsville opened the game on an 11-2 run before the Bulldogs battled back to tie the game at 13-13 late in the first period. A Foster buzzer-beater gave the Tigers a 15-13 lead after one quarter of action.
The second quarter saw 11 ties and lead changes with Gordonsville taking a 28-27 lead into halftime. Neither team held more than a one possession lead through the third quarter as an Adams layup with 1:05 remaining in the period gave the Bulldogs a 39-38 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Clay County extended their lead to 42-38 early in the fourth quarter before the Tigers battled back to tie the game again at 49 points each with 3:10 remaining.
The teams traded baskets before an Adams putback and two Cherry free throws gave the Bulldogs a 55-51 lead with 24 seconds to go. Gordonsville missed a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession before a common foul and two technicals on Gordonsville sent Eads to the free-throw line, where he went 6-6 to seal the Bulldogs’ 61-51 victory.
Up next for Clay County is the Region 4-1A semifinal round against Pickett County on Tuesday at 7:30 at Gordonsville. Jackson County will face Jo Byrns in the first semifinal game at 6 p.m.
“It’s not like we need to win 3 games in a row right now,” said Edwards. “We just need to win one, and then that’s what we’ll prepare for. I feel like we can beat any team in one game, so hopefully we can show up Tuesday and give our best effort.”
