Lady Cougars beat Mt. Brook 75-57

Lady Cougars beat Selma 50-32

Lady Cougars were defeated by Bob Jones  48-42

More Pictures to Come

Good Job Ladies!!!

Clay-Chalkville knocks off Spartans
Saturday, February 23, 2008
CLASS 6A GIRLS FINAL

Clay-Chalkville 75, Mountain Brook 57: At Jacksonville, Clay-Chalkville head coach Mike Chase once roamed the sidelines for Mountain Brook and nearly a decade later his team advanced to the Final Four by beating them.

The sixth-ranked Cougars (27-6) led wire-to-wire in their win as the Cougars won their second girls Class 6A Northeast Regional championship. "One of my assistants said this was the most stressful 18-point victory we've ever had and I agree," Chase said. "I really wanted this senior class to get to the Final Four."

Chase was the head coach at Mountain Brook for the 1998-99 season.

Clay-Chalkville began the game on an 11-0 run that was highlighted by two 3-pointers by Alex Strickland.

"She was on fire today and that good start was definitely the key confidence-wise for us," Chase said. "(Alex) is a tough guard for teams because her ability to play both inside and out is a big matchup problem."

Strickland led the Cougars with 25 points while making 5 of 11 from beyond the 3-point line. The junior forward was named the tournament's MVP after averaging 19 points while playing every minute of the two games.

CeCe Kennon also turned in a strong performance to earn all-tourney honors.

"(Strickland) and CeCe don't have the luxury to rest during the game at all, so they have had to learn how to score and play tired," Chase said.

Kennon, who has signed to play at South Alabama next year, had 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Mountain Brook (22-6) was down by as many as 20 points in the third quarter but went on a 16-5 run to cut the deficit to nine with seven minutes left in the game.

"I kept telling them we've been here before and to keep playing hard," Mountain Brook head coach Kevin Tubbs said.

"We didn't respond as well as we normally do to the physical play," Spartans senior guard Jackie Higgenbotham said. Higgenbotham had 13 points. Alexandra Morgan led Mountain Brook with 18 points. Matthew Stevens --

 

Cougars cruise to regional

Friday, February 15, 2008       DENNIS VICTORY     For The Birmingham News

Clay-Chalkville coach Mike Chase was looking for a quick start from his Class 6A seventh-ranked Cougars in Thursday's subregional girls high school action against No.10 Shades Valley.

Shades Valley had downed the Cougars when the teams met earlier in the Jefferson County Tournament championship after Clay played poorly and shot worse.

Chase got what he wanted in the rematch as the Cougars sprinted to a 25-point halftime lead on the way to a 54-36 victory, advancing to their seventh straight Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State.   The Cougars inside-out combination of CeCe Kennon and Alex Strickland combined for 23 first-half points, helping Clay to its insurmountable halftime lead.

"We really wanted to get out and get an early lead," Chase said. "We blistered it in the first half, getting the layups when we needed it and getting the 3s when we needed it."

Kennon was able to drive through Shades Valley's man defense for eight first quarter points while Strickland's dead-eye outside touch netted eight second quarter points, including a pair of 3-pointers when the Mounties tried to slow the Clay attack with a zone defense.

The Cougars (25-6) shot 64 percent in the first half, converting 16-of-25 baskets, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range.

Clay's tight man-to-man defense was just as impressive, holding the Mounties (26-6) to 13 first half points while the Cougars sprinted to a 38-13 lead at intermission.

Shades Valley played better in the second half, cutting the lead to 16 points, but the Cougars spread the floor in the final minutes for the victory.

Strickland ended with 13 points while Kennon added 12 and Brantli Nichols scored nine points. Strickland converted three baskets from 3-point range.

Haley Stracener scored 12 points to lead Shades Valley while Chase Ogden and Sandra Sturdivant each added seven points.

Clay wins Area 14 title

Sunday, February 10, 2008        DENNIS VICTORY          For The Birmingham News

Clay-Chalkville converted 11-of-12 free throw attempts in the final minutes to down Gadsden City 62-52 on Saturday in the Class 6A, Area 14 girls high school tournament title game.

Gadsden City tied the score 49-all on Caitlyn Jones' 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the game, but the sixth-ranked Cougars (24-6) spread the floor looking for easy baskets underneath and leading to Gadsden City fouls. The deadeye free throw shooting was supplemented with one of three easy lay-ins on backdoor cuts to help the cause.

"We got backdoor baskets back-to-back then got another one later and those were huge for us," said Clay coach Mike Chase. "In a close game like this, any time you can get easy baskets it's big."

It was Clay's third win of the season over last year's Class 6A runner-up. The Titans ended Clay's 2007 season by downing the Cougars in the Northeast Regional final. Both teams advance to Thursday's subregional action.

Gadsden City turned the game into a physical contest trying to keep Clay out of its motion offense. Clay guard Brantli Nichols went down hard midway through the third period, suffering a nasty gash above her right eye, and didn't return.

"That's the most physical game we've played this year," Chase said. "It was a knock-down, drag-out game."

Emily Landers led Clay with 16 points while CeCe Kennon and Alex Strickland each added 14. Tournament MVP Strickland made four free throws down the stretch as did Lauren Baxter while Kennon converted 9-of-11 attempts in the game.