By Erik Harris
CENTER POINT – Sixth-ranked Clay-Chalkville struggled on the offensive end and lost an overtime heartbreaker to Area 12 rival Center Point, 51-46, on Friday night.
Coach Jeremy Monceaux’s guys couldn’t find the bottom of the net early on the road and found themselves trailing 10-0 with 4:39 remaining in the first quarter.
Guard Edward Leggett connected from behind the arc to knot the game at 14-all two minutes into the second quarter. Senior Sean Burrell went to the paint and gave the Cougars (7-2) their first lead moments later.
Clay-Chalkville led for the next two quarters, but the home team hung around and never got out of striking distance.
Much of that can be credited to their stout defense. Visiting point guard Hasan Abdullah had an uncharacteristically quiet night offensively. The senior failed to score and fouled out with 2:20 left in overtime.
“They did a good job of pressuring us, obviously,” Monceaux said. “We did some things that if you’re in a tough game in a tough environment, you can’t do and win.”
For the Cougars, Burrell and Martin Reed scored 13 points in the loss.
“It’s just one game, but it’s a big game. We didn’t have our best stuff tonight, if we’re a pitcher, we get pulled in the second inning,” said Monceaux.