3A, AREA 6 BOYS SEMIS: Trinity moves past MA to championship round
Trinity's Cal Bennett drives past MA's Cole Caddell during the Wildcats’ victory in the Class 3A, Area 6 semis on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
In the end, the 3A Area 6 tournament game between Montgomery Academy and Trinity came down to the last shot, just as both coaches figured it would.
But to get there, the game took a lot of strange twists and turns.
Trinity used a 3-pointer from its tallest player and some clutch shots in the final minute to hold off the Eagles 61-58 and advance to the area tournament finals, earning a sub-regional berth for only the second time in the last nine years.
Trinity (20-8) will play St. James (15-5) for the area tournament championship on Friday in the St. James gym at 6 p.m. Win or lose, the Wildcats will be competing in a sub-region game on Tuesday for the first time since 2021 and only the second time since 2015.
“Obviously, you’ve got to win this game (to earn a sub-region game), but I just felt like if we could get past the hurdle because MA is such a tough matchup for us,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “There are a lot of good things that we feel like we can accomplish, so we’re very confident.”
The Eagles took command of the game almost from the opening tip, controlling the boards and getting some good perimeter shooting. But in the second quarter, a 21-12 lead turned into a 31-21 deficit as the Wildcats scored 19 consecutive points by taking charge of the boards.
“We jumped out on them and then they jumped out in the second quarter,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “They started really beating us up on the offensive glass. Jashawn (Cooper), picking up those two fouls really hurt us. People don’t see a lot of the stuff he does for us, just his physical presence. In the second half, they didn’t get a lot of those opportunities.”
And in the blink of an eye, the Eagles went on a quick 10-0 run to tie the game up at 31-31. From then until the final shot -- an off-balance Cole Caddell heave from the right side of the court on a potential game-tying 3-pointer -- the two teams went at each other in a physical confrontation that left both teams exhausted.
“I really thought tonight was going to be a back-and-forth game and that’s what it was, even though they had a decent lead early and then we got a decent lead,” Arrighi said. “But I’m so proud of the resiliency of our guys tonight. It’s hard to be down, have a great quarter and take a good-sized lead and then watch it evaporate in what seemed to be about a minute in the third quarter. It’s hard to respond to that but I thought our guys responded so well.”
As the two teams went into the final two minutes in search of a postseason bid, Trinity forward John Morris stepped out and hit a 3-pointer with 1:57 remaining to put the Wildcats in front. After a Skyler Stovall putback gave the Eagles the lead, Morris attempted another 3-pointer. It failed, but Cal Bennett was there for the putback and Jackson Taylor added a pair of free throws seconds later to give the Wildcats a three-point lead.
“We lost a little focus down the stretch and were actually in a press we were not supposed to be in and that cost us a few points,” Arrighi said. “Then I thought we were a little overaggressive a couple of times. But at the end of the day, we had some guys step up, had big finishes, big free throws and it was a great team win.”
Bennett led the Wildcats with 14 points, followed by Morris with 12, Taylor with 11 and Mac Stewart with 10.
Cole Caddell led Montgomery Academy (13-12) with 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Brewer Welch added four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Stovall added 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals, DJ Vinson added eight points and 14 rebounds while Seth Edwards chipped in six points and four rebounds.
“Our guys fought hard all the way to the end,” Arant said. “The big learning point I want them to see from this kind of a game are the little things. You don’t realize they matter until they actually matter. For me, I want to win more than anybody, but I want them to take the things we talk about and apply them to their lives.”