Clinton County holds off Trojans for first region title berth since 1960

Published 9:58 am Tuesday, March 18, 2025

By Micheal Compton

It’s been a long time coming for the Clinton County boys’ basketball team.

A program that tasted some success in the Region 4 Tournament before a two-year absence prior to this season, the Bulldogs took perhaps the biggest step in the program’s history in a long time in Monday’s 56-47 win over Barren County in the region semifinals at E.A. Diddle Arena.

It’s a victory that secured Clinton County its first-ever appearance in a Region 4 final and the program’s first of any kind since winning the Region 5 Tournament in 1960.

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It’s a win where the importance wasn’t lost on head coach Nick Irwin.

“I sat in here at the back of the room for the last 20-plus years watching Todd Messer lead this program and was doing great things with it,” Irwin said. “Being from Clinton County all my life, it has always been a dream for me to lead this program since graduating in 1998. I had a dream of playing in the regional tournament. I never got to accomplish that over guys like J.P. Blevins and some other guys, so my coaching is all because I didn’t get to make it as a kid.

“We’ve been here, it seems like a bunch, but we’ve never took that next step. That was one of these guys’ goals.”

The Bulldogs needed a strong defensive effort to secure the win, with Barren County (20-13) within striking distance most of the night, but unable to rally late.

In the opening minutes, the Trojans looked like the team that upset tournament favorite Warren Central in the opening round, with Barren County sprinting out to 13-4 advantage after a 3-pointer from Joshua Decker late in the first.

Decker’s field goal would be the last for more than 10 minutes for Barren County, as the Clinton County defense locked in and the offense was able to push the Bulldogs in front.

Clinton County (30-2) closed with an 11-0 run in the first to move in front and stretched the lead to 23-18 before Decker’s basket in the paint finally ended the Trojans’ field goal drought.

Barren County was still within three in the final minute before Clinton County closed with a four-point flurry to make the score 29-22 at halftime.

“It was a struggle,” Barren County coach Warren Cunningham said. “We got off to the good start there, but after … it seemed like an uphill battle. In that game, when you are down five or six it feels like 10 or 12.”

Clinton went cold in the third, held to six points, but Barren County was unable to wrestle the lead away. Barren County got as close as 33-32 after a 3 from Jackson Reece, but Clinton County got the lead back to two by the end of the third and opened the fourth quarter with six straight to build a cushion.

Barren County was unable to get closer than six the rest of the way.

Jaxson Mason led Clinton County with 18 points. Nick Poore finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Cannon Young added nine points and nine rebounds.

“This means everything to us,” Young said. “At the start of the season we met one of our assistants at Drakes and we sat down and had a good meal and we made five goals. One of those five goals was to win district, and then we started winning. We went back out to eat and we made five more goals. One of those was to win the region. It’s building blocks on building blocks.”

The Bulldogs were 0-for-4 from 3, but held a 38-12 advantage in points in the paint with a 30-22 rebounding edge.

“It wasn’t really about making outside shots tonight,” Irwin said. “It was about toughness on defense. I felt like once we set that edge on defense the game changed. Credit goes to these guys. They listened to a game plan for five or six days. It got redundant and old … but they did it. They stayed locked in.”

Decker had 13 points to lead Barren County. Brey Bewley, playing with a broken pinkie on his shooting hand, added 12 points and Tate Spillman finished with 10 points.

“Congratulations to Clinton County,” Cunningham said. “I thought they played well. We struggled offensively, but I think they had some things to do with that with their length and their size. I am not disappointed we lost. I am not disappointed in our guys.”

Clinton County advances to face Bowling Green in the first meeting between the schools since the 2022 region tournament. The Purples have won nine straight in the series and are 15-3 against Clinton County all-time.

“Yeah it’s a unique spot to be in, more so because this is our first one in a while,” Irwin said. “We feel like we’ve got unfinished work on the season. We are glad we get a couple of more days together. We want a couple more weeks together.

“We haven’t seen Bowling Green, but everybody has seen Bowling Green. You know what you are going to play. You know you are going to get pressure full court. You’ve got to handle the basketball. It should be a fun night.”

CCHS 15 14 6 21 – 56

BCHS 13 9 11 14 – 47

CC – Mason 18, Poore 13, Young 9, McCutchen 7, Beaty 6, Davis 3.

BC – Decker 13, Bewley 12, Spillman 10, Hardy 7, Reece 4, Clemmons 1.

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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