3A AREA 5 SEMIFINALS: MA makes quick work of Thorsby to advance
MA's Braden Gordon goes for the block on the shot of Thorsby's Logan Ellison in the Eagles’ win on Monday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
It didn’t take long for the Montgomery Academy Eagles to turn their attention to the 3A Area 5 Tournament finals.
The Eagles led Thorsby 19-7 late in the first quarter, then scored the game’s next 20 points in an 84-27 rout of the Rebels in the area tournament quarterfinals.
“We used some time in the late second and early third quarter, trying to work on some different things defensively that we haven’t really done all year,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “Just trying to see some things we can use down the road if we need to mix it up.”
The Eagles (28-2) earned a berth in the state playoffs with the win and will advance to the area tournament finals against Alabama Christian at home on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Both Montgomery Academy and Alabama Christian will earn a spot in the sub-regional round on Saturday.
“We were really looking to get a game in,” Montgomery Academy senior DJ Vinson said. “You only have so many games left. I say get that playoff feel. We wanted to make sure everybody knows who MA is, but we’re going to make our name in the playoffs. We’re going to keep putting up these 40-, 50-point games, we’re going to keep it on them the whole game.
“We’re going to go out every game, no matter if it’s a good team, an all-right team, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to go out and play our game, win our way, next day practice, next day a game and keep it going.”
ACA rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Dallas County in the other tournament semifinal, putting the two Capital City Conference rivals on a collision course in the tournament finals on Wednesday.
“It’s an intercity game that our kids will be excited about,” Arant said. “Any time you’re palying for an area championship, your kids will be excited about it. I think that’ll add some juice to our guys. They’re a good basketball team and in our gym (in a November tournament) they’ve played some really good games. It’ll be a really good challenge for us we’re looking forward to it.”
Braden Gordon led Montgomery Academy with 17 points, four rebounds, three steals and an assist, followed by Skyler Stovall with 14 points, eight rebounds, two steals, three assists and a blocked shot. Cade Segars hit four of the Eagles’ 13 3-pointers to finish with 12 points, along with four rebounds and a pair of steals and Will Renfroe added 11 points, three rebounds and a steal.
Vinson had five points and seven rebounds, Jarrett Friendly had two points, 10 rebounds, four steals and 3 assists and Brewer Welch had five points, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals.
Max Burnett led Thorsby with nine points, followed by Lucas Jackson with seven.
After the game, Vinson was honored with a basketball noting his career milestone of 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. The senior hit the rebounding milestone against Thorsby on Jan. 24, then passed 1,000 career points in his next game against Dallas County on Jan. 27.
“I like to rebound, I get my putbacks every now and then, so they both mean the same to me,” he said. “Now, it’s time to keep on working. We’ve got one goal, to win state, so that’s all I’m focused on right now. This is just a stepping stone.”