BLACKSVILLE — The last time Doddridge County and Clay-Battelle met on the hardwood, the game came down to the final 30 seconds as the Cee-Bees prevailed by four points.
Friday’s Class A Region I, Section 2 championship was just as tight, although with a reversed outcome as the Bulldogs pulled through with a 71-65 victory.
“Last time we were here we lost by four and it was another tight game (Friday),” Doddridge County coach Paul Burnside said. “I just told our guys to come in and play with confidence.”
There was little separation throughout the game as the Bulldogs’ biggest lead was 10 points early in the first quarter.
The difference in the game was a 12-0 run by Doddridge in the third quarter that erased a seven-point deficit, CB’s largest lead of the evening, and put the Bulldogs up five, 47-42.
“Down the stretch, we missed some easy shots and took some bad shots,” CB coach Josh Kisner said. “They executed on their end.
“I thought they outplayed us (Friday).”
Clay-Battelle hung around for the entire fourth quarter, but just couldn’t string enough defensive stops together to go on any sort of run to retake the lead. Doddridge led for the entire frame, but never by more than eight points.
“Our guys just battled all the way to the end,” Burnside said. “We didn’t turn the ball over as much in the second half and we executed down the stretch. I’m very proud of our team.”
Playing at a size disadvantage, the Bulldogs wanted to play more of a perimeter game than challenge CB forwards Colby Barr and Preston Luzader, as they did in the first meeting. As such Doddridge hit seven three-pointers in the first half from four different players.
“I told the guys that we just needed to make sure that when we had (an open shot) we took it,” Burnside said. “If it wasn’t easy, then don’t (shoot), especially when we got up. We needed to make sure we were smart with the ball.”
The Bulldogs hit four triples in an early game blitz that saw them jump out to a 16-6 lead in the first quarter. CB responded with a new defense and went on an 8-2 run to close the frame. Better defense had the Cee-Bees leading 35-33 at the break.
Clay-Battelle had things rolling to start the second half, scoring three easy baskets to lead 42-35 until the offense dried up and Doddridge began its 12-0 run.
“We missed a couple of easy ones,” Kisner said. “At one point in the third quarter, we came out and were up five, took a bad shot, had a turnover and they came down and hit back-to-back shots on us and they’re right back at it.”
Jerod Trent led a balanced Doddridge offense with an impressive 24 points. Jacob Dehaven (13), Brandon Hileman (12) and Landon Thomas (10) also finished in double figures.
Barr had a game-high 26 points for CB, but only had two field goals in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs focused on denying him the ball in the post. Luzader scored 13 points and JC Spears scored 11 with a pair of treys.
Doddridge will host a Class A Region I co-final on Tuesday against Madonna at 7 p.m. Clay-Battelle will travel to Cameron, the Section 1 champion, for the other co-final at the same time.
CB lost at Cameron by seven points earlier this season. A loss next Tuesday ends the Cee-Bees’ season while a win sends them to the state tournament.
“We’re going to lose one, (the section final) is the one to lose,” Kisner said. “I expect us to come out (Tuesday), play hard and see what happens. You’ve got to have a short-term memory. We’ll learn from our mistakes, move forward and play for the next one.”
BOX SCORE
Doddridge County 71, Clay-Battelle 65
Dodd 18 15 14 24 — 71
CB 14 21 9 21 — 65
DODDRIDGE COUNTY — Hileman 3 4-4 12; Thomas 4 0-0 10; Trent 9 2-2 24; Dehaven 5 1-1 13; Solomon 3 0-0 6; Kimball 1 2-2 4; Cross 0 0-2 0; Adams 0 2-2 2.
CLAY-BATTELLE — Spears 3 3-3 11; Ponceroff 1 0-0 3; Payton 3 2-2 9; Barr 9 8-9 26; Luzader 5 3-3 13; Morgan 1 0-0 3.
3-Pt. Goals — Doddridge County 10 (Trent 4, Hileman 2, Thomas 2, Dehaven 2). Clay-Battelle 5 (Spears 2, Ponceroff 1, Payton 1, Morgan 1).
