By Erik Harris
HOMEWOOD – Offense was hard to come by for No. 6 Clay-Chalkville in the opening round game of the Steel City Invitational on Friday night.
The top-ranked team in Class 5A had a lot to do with the offensive woes. Ramsay head coach Kelly Cheatham denied Cougars point guard Hasan Abdullah the ball on every inbound on his way to a 56-42 win.
“We’re suppose to be on this stage, (Abdullah) is a big-time player and we’ve got some good players that play hard and we played pretty good at times, just couldn’t sustain it,” said Clay-Chalkville head coach Jeremy Monceaux.
Abdullah was met with a double team from the first minute of the game to the final minute of the game, and his teammates were unable to pick up the slack.
“They did a great job of making it hard to even catch the ball and it fatigued him a little bit, it did,” said Monceaux. “You’ve got to give them credit, great game plan.”
Clay-Chalkville coach Jeremy Monceaux photo by Ron Burkett
Guard Kenneth Cotton was able to provide some offense, but not enough to avoid the losers bracket. The senior finished shooting 50 percent from the field for 13 points, which tied Abdullah for the team lead.
The game stayed close for the most part, but the Rams’ 26 fourth-quarter points were too much to overcome.
Sean Burrell stepped up with a put-back to pull Clay-Chalkville to within one point early in the final quarter. Ramsay responded by going on a 10-3 run over the next three minutes to put the game to bed.
The decisive run was caped by Rams’ sophomore Justin Wiley, who buried a baseline shot from behind the arc with 3:40 to go. Wiley then went on to make 10-of-12 free throws. He finished with a game-high 17 points.
The only other Ram to reach double-digit scoring was Jordan Milsap with 13.
Clay-Chalkville will now face Bessemer City on Saturday at 9 a.m. back in Siebert Hall. The Tigers fell to J.O. Johnson 75-69 on Friday night.
“It’s a big tournament, unfortunately or fortunately (rather you win or lose) you’re going to be tested the next day,” Monceaux said.
