Led by double figure scoring from Teaghan Moses and Alia Chmura, the anticipated showdown of two Clay County teams; Clay High and Keystone Heights High, turned into a 44-22 win for Clay in a battle of one-loss teams.

With Clay traveling to Keystone Heights with a 6-1 record and Keystone Heights  holding a 5-1 record after a five game win streak from their season opener, the contest became a game of tactical defenses and selective shooting. Keystone Heights won five games from the season start with a Friday loss to Palatka their first blemish.

For Keystone Heights coach Sarah Andrews, who was without senior point guard Kadence Massey, the task of scoring fell into the seemingly unlucky hands of just about every teammate as the ball seemed to not find the net often.

For Clay coach Doug Deters, the execution of a strong half court trap that led to steals and layups; five steals by Moses en route to 14 points, three assists and three rebounds while sophomore Alia Chmura was tough under the glass with a team-best 15 points with 14 rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot. Annaliese Hovda also had six steals, two blocked shots and seven points with a three pointer.

Keystone  Heights struck first with Daisy Hubbard hitting the Indians lone basket on her first shot as the ball never found the net the rest of the first quarter. Clay, on the other hand, opened with a Moses three pointer. That 3-2 score was all that happened until the two minutes to go mark of the first when Clay surged with 11 unanswered points with Moses and Chmura sharing buckets.

Clay doubled their score to a 26-11 halftime lead with Chmura bumping in three straight rebounds to layups before Keystone Heights got buckets from Rigby Morford and Alexandra Papaioannou with Papaioannou also cashing in from three point range to score the game 20-9. 

With Daisy Hubbard unlucky from three points, Keystone Heights could muster just two more points to the halftime break.

Both teams scored just four points apiece in an uneventful third quarter.

In the fourth, solid free throws from Clay spelled the final score, 44-22, with late buckets from Layla Summers and Lola Elrod.

Clay has a big week of games to follow with Harvest Community, St. Augustine and Duval Charter on tap before the Clay Christmas Tournament Dec. 22-23 that includes Clay, Keystone Heights, Cornerstone and  Union County for girls and Clay, Nease, Christ's Church and ED White for boys.