By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
CLAY — The Clay-Chalkville Lady Cougars started slow but ended up blowing out rival Pinson Valley 54-18 here on Friday, January 7, 2022.
Clay-Chalkville benefitted from the return of one of their best players from injury as Amani Dawkins returned to the court following an injury that was expected to sideline her for the season. Instead, Dawkins led Clay-Chalkville with 13 points and used her experienced leadership to bring the win home for the Lady Cougars.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but our defense has been so good that it always keeps us in games,” Clay-Chalkville head coach Kevin Conner said following the win. “Defensively, I think this was one of our better games. We’ve been doing a good job guarding, but I thought defensively we were really good tonight. And that allowed us, once things got rolling, well it got away from them a little bit.”
Dawkins’ return is pivotal for the Cougars if they want to make some noise in their area and head into the playoffs with a chance to make a run.
“Amani Dawkins, I lost her and my center before the season started,” Conner said. “I didn’t think Amani was coming back. Well, she got cleared a couple of weeks ago. She played her first game against Gardendale and was a little rusty. Came out and settled down, and then in the second half she played really well for us. She’s going to be a big key for us down the stretch.
Dawkins had 13 points, while Kameron Sanders also scored 13. Kamoriah Gaines added 10 for the Lady Cougars.