By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
CLAY – The Clay Chalkville Lady Cougars are off to a fast start in the 2023 season with wins over Springville (53-26) and Gadsden City (54-25) to start the season.
(Stock Photo)
In the first game, at Springville, the Cougars used smothering defense to keep the Tigers at bay and hold them to just 26 points. No small task as Springville returns most of the players on a team that scored a good bit last season. Abby Byrd led the Tigers with 8 points followed by Audrey Talton with 6. The Cougars jumped out to an 18-9 lead in the first as Brooklyn Phillips hit two three pointers and Kamoriah Gaines had 6 points herself.
Springville’s defense played well in the second, holding the Cougars to seven points, but the Tigers could only muster four of their own as Leah Bowden and Abby Byrd were the only scorers. For Clay, Phillips found her third three-pointer of the night and Kameron Sanders got on the board with a three herself. The halftime score would be 25-13 Clay.
Phillips would explode for the Lady Cougars in the third quarter, hitting two more threes to go with two goals from the field. Her 10 points would lead to a 17-point third quarter for the Cougars. The Clay defense would tighten up again and hold Springville to four points on goals from Georgia Chancellor and Abby Byrd. Heading into the final quarter, Clay held a 42-17 lead over Springville.
In the fourth, Phillips would hit another three-pointer to go with a Sanders three and goals from a few others to score 11 points on the Tigers while holding them to nine. Byrd would have four of those points to go with a three from Talton to score 9 points in the period and make the final 53-26.
Gaines led the Cougars with 18 points while Sanders had 12.
In the second game of the year, the Cougars took on Gadsden City and promptly beat them 54-25 continuing their defensive dominance.
Clay opened with 12-point first quarter led by Sanders, Gaines and Phillips who all had four points each. The defense held Gadsden City to just 4 points in the opening period.
In the second, the Cougars would lean on Sanders, who had eight of the 15 points scored and Mackenzie Hale, who added five points while the defense continued to choke out the Lady Titans’ offense, holding them to just five points in the quarter. The half would end with the Cougars holding a commanding 27-9 lead over Gadsden City.
The Lady Titans would find some success in the third quarter, putting together their only double-digit period of the game as they put 10 points on the board. But the Cougars continued to shoot the lights out, putting up 15 of their own, led by Kimora Brewster who had seven and Gaines who had 6.
The final quarter of play would be another one in which the Lady Cougars would outscore Gadsden City, this time doubling them up by a score of 12-6. Gaines would add eight points to her total on the night in the fourth while Telicia Ransom would score three. The final would be 54-25, all Cougars.
“Really good start to the season against two quality teams,” said Clay Head Coach Kevin Conner. “We lost some key players from last year so you never really know what you have until you get some games under your belt. I’m really pleased with the progress we are making every day and look forward to seeing what we can become.”
The Lady Cougars now sit at 2-0 as they head into a Veteran’s Day Challenge at Minor High School where they will take on the host Minor Tigers.
