By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
CLAY – Wednesday night, the Clay Chalkville Cougars got off to a slow start and dug a hole they could not get out of against cross-town rivals the Huffman Vikings. “Huffman dominated the first two quarters with a physical brand of basketball. They won the battle in the paint and controlled the boards,” said Clay Coach Chris Richardson. “Coach Ward (Huffman) does a great job of getting his team to play with poise and discipline.”
Huffman came out of the locker room shooting, putting up 17 points while their defense held the Cougars to just 6. The second quarter was much the same as Clay scored just 8 points and allowed 11 from Huffman, sending the game to halftime with a score of 28-14 Vikings.
Clay fought hard in the third quarter, putting up 15 points to Huffman’s 13, cutting into the Vikings’ lead. The fourth quarter saw Clay outscore Huffman 17-13 but it was not enough to overcome the hole they were in from the beginning. The final score would be Huffman 54 Clay 46.
Devon McKinnon led the Cougars with 13 points on the night. Kevin Kirk Jr put up 13 and Da’Von Cheatham and Tiawan Hardy Jr both added 7 points for Clay.
“My guys got off to a very slow start but we were able to fight back into the game,” said Richardson. “After being down 20 points at one point in the third quarter, we cut the lead to 5 points with one minute to play in the fourth quarter. I thought my team learned a lot from the game and we are looking forward to the start of area play.”
The Cougars are now 8-8 and will begin area play Friday night as they travel to Pinson.
