By Erik Harris
HOOVER – A slow start led to a double-digit loss for Clay-Chalkville in its second game of the Big Orange Classic at Hoover High School on Saturday. The Cougars eventually fell to Class 6A, Area 12 rival Center Point by a count of 55-45.
The home team struggled in the first half. Clay-Chalkville made a total of five shots throughout the first 16 minutes of play to trail the Eagles 27-13 at the half.
A baseline 3-pointer from J’myus Reed gave Center Point its first double-digit advantage of the night with 1:10 remaining in the opening quarter, and managed to maintain a comfortable lead for the remainder of the night.
“We just came out sluggish,” said M.J. Embree. “Coach got us in the locker room and tried to get up fired back up to start the second half. We had to go out and fight our way back in it.”
Despite the wide margin, Clay-Chalkville showed fight in the second half. Keithan Parker connected on a 3-pointer from right of the circle to pull the Cougars to within 10 with 2:24 remaining.
That deep make led to another. The second came courtesy of Eddie Cole from the opposite wing and it updated the scoreboard to 51-42 in favor of Center Point. That’s as close as it would get.
The Cougars misfired on their last three attempts from behind the arc while the Eagles converted on four late free-throws.
For Center Point, it was a three-headed offensive monster that did much of the damage. LeKameron Reru, Zameria Davidson and Darius Curry combined for 36 points.
Embree posted a team-high 12 points for Clay-Chalkville, but had no teammates reach double-digits on the stat line.
The Cougars will continue tournament play on Monday at 2 p.m. against the loser of Fairfield-Gadsden City.
Erik Harris is the Sports Editor for the Trussville Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @jeharris2 or email him at jmseharris2@gmail.com.