The Clinton Central Bulldogs defeated the Rossville Hornets 40-36 in the opening round of the IHSAA State Tournament.
Carly Davison carried the load for the Bulldogs, finishing with 21 points and six assists.
Clinton Central controlled the pace of the game, holding the ball for three minutes at the end of the first quarter, and finishing the quarter down 8-5.
After a hot start from three, the Hornets cooled off. They finished the game 6-19 from three and 6-16 from two.
The Bulldogs hung around thanks to their defense and went to halftime trailing 15-14.
In the second half, Carly Davison was unleashed. The senior point guard found her spots and connected on several in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs took the lead midway through the third on a pair of free throws by Hannah Jacobs.
At the end of three, Clinton Central held a slim 24-22 lead.
The offenses opened up in the fourth. Davison and Rossville’s Ava Burkle traded big shots. Burkle, a senior, finished with 10 points in her final game for the Hornets.
Trailing 36-33, Rossville’s Addi Gorbett connected on a three-pointer to tie the game at 36.
After a series of fouls against the Hornets, Davison made a pair of free throws to take a 38-36 lead with less than a minute to go.
Out of a timeout, Rossville looked to set up a play inside for Burkle, but the pass was too high and fell out of bounds, giving the ball back to Central.
Two free throws from Davison pushed the lead to four, and Davison intercepted the final inbounds pass to secure the victory, 40-36.
Clinton Central got a big performance from Addi Mounts, finishing with 10 points.
Don Helmick is now 6-4 as a coach in the State Tournament with Clinton Central. After securing 300 career wins midway through the year, Helmick looks to guide his squad to a second Sectional Championship in the last three years.
The Bulldogs will face Frontier on Friday at 6:00 p.m. The Falcons finished the season 2-16.
After a fantastic regular season that saw the Hornets win the Hoosier Heartland Conference, Rossville is out in the first round of Sectionals. The Hornets finish the season 22-2 and will lose six seniors, including Burkle and Gorbett.
Listen to the final sequence, heard on WILO:
Coverage of Sectional 54 brought to you by:
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