By Erik Harris
CENTER POINT – A fast start to the game resulted in a fast start to the Class 6A, Area 12 season for No. 3 Clay-Chalkville (11-2) on Friday night.
The Lady Cougars let the Center Point (6-3) crowd back in the game after watching a large portion of the 21-point halftime lead disappear, but regrouped to take the game 48-37.
The home team couldn’t have been colder through the first half of play, trailing 28-7 at the break. Center Point put 14 points on the board in the third quarter, and got as close as 10 in the final quarter of play.
“They knocked down some big threes,” said Clay-Chalkville coach Justin Haynie. “(Talinah Davis) is a good player and when she gets hot, we’ve got to play up to her and we didn’t do a very good job of closing out.”
Senior Kristian Hudson took charge when the momentum shifted. Hudson delivered a deep ball following two Summer Petway free throws to stretch the lead back out to 15 points with only three minutes remaining. Haynie called Hudson’s answer “the biggest shot of the season.”
For Clay-Chalkville, Hudson finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Pettway finished with 11 points, while sinking 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
For the Lady Eagles, Davis posted 14 points and Kimberly Parrish added eight.