By Erik Harris, sports editor
KIMBERLY — The Clay-Chalkville boys have forced a coin toss.
With a 55-37 road win over Mortimer Jordan on Friday night, the No. 5-ranked Cougars have created a two-way tie with Pinson Valley atop the Class 6A, Area 12 standings. The crosstown rivals split the regular season series with Pinson Valley claiming the first meeting 61-39, followed by a 59-51 Clay-Chalkville victory three weeks later. Both teams swept their remaining area games over Gardendale and Mortimer Jordan to finish dead even in the final standings.
A coin toss will determine the regular season champion.
“It starts in our locker room,” said Clay-Chalkville head coach Jeremy Monceaux. “These kids have been in our program since the seventh grade all the way through, so there’s an expectation for how they come to work every day. We’ve got eight seniors, they are all unbelievable kids, unbelievable in the classroom and it’s starting to show on the floor as well.”

Clay-Chalkville forward Jonathan Harris readies for a shot attempt against Mortimer Jordan on Jan. 29, 2021.
Photo by Vickie Unlap (fodaction.com)
On Friday night, the Cougars (15-4, 5-1) clamped down on defense, allowing only 12 first-half points on their way to a crucial win. Monceaux says defense is the driving force behind his team’s recent jump in the Class 6A rankings.
“Sometimes shots don’t go in,” said Monceaux. “So the defensive end becomes the most important thing and he (Mortimer Jordan head coach Josh Golden) runs a lot of stuff and does a really good job so it makes the scout tough, but our kids played hard tonight and that was a big game for us.”
Senior point guard Donovan Shangase sent the visitors to the break with a 23-12 advantage thanks to his rip and go at the buzzer.
The Blue Devils hit back early in the third with a trio of deep makes from Braden Peters, Aaron Devine and Reid Hardin to cut the deficit down to 26-21. That’s as close as it would get as Clay-Chalkville ended the third quarter on a 12-3 run.
Shangase and Isaiah Daniel spurred the third-quarter surge with two buckets apiece, including a pair from beyond the arc. Shangase led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Daniel with 13 and Jonathan Harris with 10.
The Cougars went to the final period with a 38-24 lead and cruised home for the win thanks to a few more buckets from their backcourt duo of Daniel and Shangase.