From Tribune staff reports
The Clay-Chalkville Cougar boys gave it everything they had against heavily favored Huffman on Tuesday night. But the host Vikings made plays down the stretch when they needed to, claiming a 62-59 win on their home floor to with the sub-regional battle and advance to the Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State.
The Cougars (11-15) clawed their way to an early six-point lead after one period and battled throughout. The Vikings (24-5) couldn’t pull away, and it took a three-point play by Myreon Jones with just over two minutes to play to edge the lead out to 59-53. The Cougars outscored Huffman 6-3 the rest of the way but couldn’t overtake the hosts.
Nico Collins led Clay with 17 points. Anthony Holmes added 14 and Jalen Jordan scored 13.
Jones had 17 for Huffman. Travarus Carroll and Decorian Ayers chipped in 14 apiece.