3A AREA 5 FINAL: MA rolls on with win over ACA
ACA’s Jaden Jones attempts a shot over Skyler Stovall in MA’s win in the Class 3A Area 5 final on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Since losing at Class 7A Huntsville on Jan. 3, Montgomery Academy has reeled off 13 consecutive wins and is relatively unchallenged, thanks to a high octane offense that has scored 80 or more points in six of those games.
Wednesday night wasn’t one of those games. The Eagles started off hot, jumping out to a 24-10 lead over Alabama Christian in the 3A Area 5 Tournament championship game, then cooled off on a poor shooting night in a 69-46 win at MA’s Joe Mooty Court.
“I thought in the first quarter our intensity was good and we played well,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “Defensively, especially the first six minutes of the first quarter, we were good. After that, our energy level kind of wavered back and forth and we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight.”
“We lost our energy,” Montgomery Academy senior point guard Brewer Welch said. “I think we just decided that we had already won the game in the first quarter, which we really shouldn’t do.”
Understandably, first-year ACA coach Trace Hill saw things a little differently, noting that his team didn’t start out well but picked up the pace later in the game.
“Basketball is a funny game,” Hill said. “It rewards teams that play hard and we did not play hard in the first half. We didn’t come out very focused and with zero energy and you can’t spot a team like that 20 points in the first quarter.”
Montgomery Academy (29-2) will remain home to play Glenwood School in a 3A sub-regional game on Saturday at 6 p.m. Alabama Christian (15-11) will travel to Auburn to play Lee-Scott Academy on Saturday. The two winners of the sub-regional game will advance to the Central Regional at Alabama State’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome next week for regional semifinal games.
As the Eagles gear up for what they hope is an extended stay in the playoffs, they’ll have to rely on the formula that has led to so much success this season -- move the ball quickly on offense and utilize all of their weapons on offense while playing aggressively on defense.
“I think that’s our main goal, to start off fast in the first quarter,” Welch said. “Get the lead and put the other team down and take advantage of that.”
Welch is in charge of directing the offense, which includes dependable post player DJ Vinson, new addition Braden Gordon, perimeter shooters Welch and Cade Segars, reigning Capital City Conference Player of the Year Skyler Stovall and emerging post player Jarrett Friendly.
“Brewer is probably the most underrated player on our team, him and Jarrett,” Arant said. “He’s one of the best point guards in the state at our level, just in terms of the way he gets us into our flow, the way he advances the ball ahead with the pass. He’s easily a 35 percent 3-point shooter who could say I need more shots, but he makes us go with his unselfishness and the way he distributes the ball to everybody else.”
Last season, the team relied on the slashing style of Stovall to score from the perimeter, the lane or on layups, relying on Welch’s perimeter shooting and Vinson’s inside play to correct any deficiencies, but this year the addition of Gordon and the emergence of Friendly creates plenty of offensive options for Welch on every trip down the floor.
“It’s easier for us to score,” Welch said, “but it’s harder for me to get a bucket or get more shots. I don’t get as many shots. But I’m a pass-first point guard. I’ll take an assist over a bucket.”
In Wednesday’s game, Stovall had 15 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists, while Gordon added 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Graham Martin added eight points and five rebounds, Friendly had eight points and 11 rebounds and Vinson had six points, 12 rebounds, four steals and a pair of blocked shots. Welch sank a couple of baskets in the first quarter for five points, then spent the rest of the evening grabbing three rebounds, dishing out seven assists and coming up with three assists.
Stovall was named the area tournament’s most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Braden Gordon, DJ Vinson and Brewer Welch as well as Alabama Christian’s Mac Moorer, Jaden Jones and Christian Snipes.
Jones led ACA with 14 points, followed by Moorer with 10 and Snipes with nine.