By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
CLAY – The Clay Chalkville Cougars celebrated senior night on Tuesday night by welcoming the Hueytown Golden Gophers and politely sending them home with a 7-point loss.
Clay got the lead early and held on for the entire game to get the victory, scoring 14 points in the first quarter while holding Hueytown to just 6. Davon Cheatham and Victor Odiari both put up 3 points in the period to lead all scorers while 4 others contributed 2 points each for the Cougars.
Spreading the love once again on offense, the Cougars had 5 different players combine for 12 more points in the second quarter. Erin Callens led with 3 points. On the defensive side of the ball, the Cougars showed some holes and let the Gophers put up 17 up on them before the half. The score heading into the locker room would be 26-23 Cougars.
Coming out of the break, the Cougars tightened up on defense, holding Hueytown to 11 points. Led by Devon McKinnon’s 7 points and Cheatham’s 4, Clay would score 19 for the quarter, going up 45-34 with just one quarter to play.
Despite being outscored 21-17 in the final period, the Cougars would still find a way to win. Of the 17 points, Senior Devin Finley scored 9 along with 4 other players who had 2 each. The final score would be 62-55 with the home team getting the win on senior night.
On the night, Devin Finley led Clay with 12 points followed by Devon McKinnon with 11 and both Tiawan Hardy Jr and Victor Odiari with 9 points each.
“Both teams competed hard for 4 quarters. We jumped out to an early start but Hueytown answered with timely shots to keep them within range. It was an up-tempo game that was full of physical and athletic play,” said Chris Richardson, Clay Chalkville’s head coach.
Coach Richardson added, “It was senior night for us. I thought my guys did a good job, for the most part, of focusing on our game plan through all of the senior night festivities.”
The Cougars move to 9-9 over all (0-1 in the area). They will host Mortimer Jordan Friday night.