By Gary Lloyd
CLAY — The Clay-Chalkville varsity boys basketball team placed second in its own Thanksgiving tournament this week.
Gardendale defeated Clay-Chalkville 62-49 to claim the Clay-Chalkville Thanksgiving Invitational tournament championship Thursday.
Clay-Chalkville was leading 24-19 at halftime, but Gardendale scored the first 15 points of the second half to put it on top for good. Allen Williams, who scored 20 points for Gardendale, was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
For Clay-Chalkville (6-4), junior guard Kenneth Cotton scored 14 points and junior guard Edward Leggett added 12 points.
Clay-Chalkville beat Holy Family 65-54 in the first round and got by Huntsville 68-64 in the semifinals. In the semifinals, five Cougars were in double figures in scoring. Leggett and Cotton both scored 13 points, junior forward Martin Reed scored 11 and junior forward Sean Burrell chipped in with 10 points. Junior point guard Hasan Abdullah scored 10 points, handed out 11 assists and had five steals.
Clay-Chalkville plays its first Class 6A, Area 9 game at Pell City next Friday at 7:30 p.m., after the varsity girls’ game at 6 p.m. The Cougars play at area opponent Oxford on Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.