By Kyle Parmley
CLAY – Nine steals from the starting backcourt of Kristian Hudson and Raven Omar propelled Clay-Chalkville to a 44-35 victory over rival Hewitt-Trussville on Monday night.
The duo forced the Lady Huskies to work for everything they got all evening, as their active hands created deflections and disturbances throughout.
“They do everything right on the court,” Clay-Chalkville head coach Justin Haynie said of his guards. “It makes my job easier.”
Hudson added 14 points to her ledger on the night and picked up four steals, while also blocking two shots. She was honored after the game, along with Clay-Chalkville’s Hasan Abdullah, for her nomination to the McDonald’s All-American Game.
Omar did not score in the game, but the sophomore pulled down six rebounds and dished out four assists to go with her five steals.
“They are athletic, and sometimes that is the difference,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Tonya Hunter said of the tandem.
The Lady Huskies came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, connecting on four 3-pointers in the opening quarter to take a 12-10 lead. Bailey Berry knocked down three of those shots, and finished the night with 11 points.
Senior guard Cayla Dillard buried the team’s other triple in the first quarter and assisted on one of Berry’s shots. She hit a long jumper in the fourth quarter, and finished the game with five points.
“They knocked down shots. That’s basketball,” Haynie said. “Teams that shoot the ball really well go on runs. You just have to keep them close until that run ends and that’s what we did.”
Daffany Lewis was a force for the Lady Cougars the entire evening, scoring a game-high 16 points, and coming up a rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Three of those boards came from missed shots that she grabbed and subsequently scored the easy basket.
“Daffany got off to a good start, and I’m glad she did well,” Hayne said.
The Lady Cougars did not miss a free throw the entire game, hitting all 10 shots from the charity stripe.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Gabby Hill gave Cierra Taylor a nice pass for a layup to end the first half, which tied the game at 18. But with Morgan Kirk out due to illness, the Lady Huskies were not able to keep up in the second half with a shortened bench.
“Our substitution patterns were kind of off tonight,” Hunter said. “But I’m proud of their effort.”
Hill continues to give her team solid contributions, finishing the night as the team’s leading scorer with 12 points, while securing seven rebounds. Briannah Howard played a key role for Hewitt-Trussville on the boards, as she grabbed nine rebounds.
Each team plays once again on Tuesday evening. Clay-Chalkville stays at home to host Carver-Birmingham, while Hewitt-Trussville hosts local foe Pinson Valley for senior night.
The teams will face off again Friday night at Bryant Bank Arena.