Hustle is contagious.

Clay-Chalkville’s Victor Odiari’s hustle paid off Saturday night, waking the fourth-ranked Cougars from an early slumber as they pounced in the second half for a 67-51 victory over Athens in an AHSAA Class 6A Northwest sub-regional.

Clay-Chalkville (23-8) advances to the regional round for the fifth time in program history and the first since the 2020-2021 season.

“We got some guys here that can really play basketball,” Clay-Chalkville coach Chris Richardson said. “But they haven’t been this far. They haven’t had this much success in the past. We’re working on that every day. Handling success and winning and building confidence.”

Athens jumped out to an 8-2 lead midway through the opening period, powered by Owen Ricketts’ 3-pointer on the initial possession, but Odiari scored on three straight baskets — a 3-pointer, a tip-in rebound and a layup — to push the Cougars ahead 9-8 with a little less than three minutes left in the frame.

Saylor Bright nailed a 3-pointer at the end of the first period, giving Athens a 13-12 advantage, but not one Golden Eagle made a field goal in the second quarter. That allowed Clay-Chalkville to take control with an 8-1 run to close out the half.

“I’ve been around basketball for a while. I’m a young guy but I’ve been around it for a while,” Richardson said. “Guys were just tight with the moment. They knew it was a possibility the season could end here. Once they settled down in the second half, you saw the team we had all year.”

Odiari pushed his scoring output into double digits to start the second half, driving inside for the bucket on the opening possession, and Clay-Chalkville surged ahead on a 9-0 run to increase its lead to 33-19 midway through the third before entering the fourth with a 15-point advantage.

Athens (15-10) managed to trim the deficit to nine points on the back of a 7-0 run, but the Cougars responded with their own 8-0 run — six points of which belonged to Austin Ray — to recapture the momentum and secure the sub-regional win over the Golden Eagles.

Star of the Game: Odiari. The 6-foot-5 junior forward posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He scored seven straight points late in the opening period as the Cougars answered an 8-2 opening run by Athens.

“We came out sloppy, but we cleaned it up and locked in by halftime. We came back out and started doing what we do. We’re taking it step-by-step on the way through to state. That’s all we got to do,” he said.

Stat sheet: Clay-Chalkville – Kevin Kirk led the Cougars with a game-high 16 points, including a 7-of-8 showing at the charity stripe, and Ray added a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds and was 7-for-9 on free throws. Devon McKinnon had 14 points, followed by Colin Owens and Aces Kennedy with three points each. Athens – Sam Boyles and Bright led the Golden Eagles with 13 points each and Gross, Ricketts and Conner Berthiaume all had six points. John McIntyre and Nelson Brown combined for six points and a perfect 4-of-4 at the stripe.

Coachspeak: “I have to do my part as far as having an excellent game plan each game. They have to do their part with preparing every day, staying skilled-up in the gym and making sure the ball is in their hand. Preparation leads to confidence.” — Clay-Chalkville’s Chris Richardson

They said it: “Defense, that’s what we’re going to do. As long as we play great defense and do what we need to do on offense, we’ll be good.” — Odiari

“We have to stay poised. At all times. We can’t get a big head because there are better teams ahead. We have to stay poised, be us and play like Clay-Chalkville.” — McKinnon

What’s next? Clay-Chalkville advances to face defending champion Buckhorn in the Class 6A northwest regional semifinals at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum.