3A GIRLS SEMIS: Lady Panthers one win away from repeat
Plainview's Ali Price is pressured by PCA’s Ella Jane Connell (2) and CoCo Thomas in the Panthers’ win on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
BIRMINGHAM – Prattville Christian Academy controlled the boards, the perimeter and the tempo in Tuesday’s game with Plainview.
The only thing the Panthers couldn’t control is their head coach’s voice.
Jason Roberson lost his voice, but everything else worked as Prattville Christian used its height advantage in the paint on offense and its defense on the perimeter to jump out to a quick 20-point lead and cruise past the Bears 53-36 in the Class 3A semifinals at Legacy Arena on Tuesday morning.
“Literally, in the first quarter, we heard it just go away,” said PCA assistant coach Jim Graham, filling in for Roberson at the postgame press conference. “It was very difficult. Part of winning is overcoming and that was definitely an adversity to overcome because he’s a very good coach, very well prepared and he’s the main voice yelling out what defense we’re in, what plays we’re going to run. We run a lot of different plays, we switch defenses a good bit and the whole bench is having to yell for him. We’re having to be extra quiet and sit tight so he can whisper to us his instructions.”
It might have been a bigger challenge than usual as Plainview turned up the defensive pressure and PCA struggled offensively, turning over the ball 10 times on 14 possessions in the final eight minutes, managing only a Hannah Jones’ basket, a CoCo Thomas miss and two trips to the free-throw line.
“He always has a lot to say to me,” PCA point guard Ella Jane Connell said. “You try to tune everything out, but we’re always leaving that spot for Coach Rob’s voice. It’s usually not too hard to hear, but it was definitely tough. We tried to communicate (among the players) more. That’s been one of our struggles. Maybe it’s a good thing because that kind of forced us to have to step into that role for each other.”
Roberson didn’t need his voice early. The Panthers dominated the game in every aspect and rolled out to a 14-1 lead before the Bears finally scored a basket with 3:43 left in the opening quarter. By the end of the quarter, PCA led 24-3 with the help of a 21-5 advantage on the boards.
“We just had to have a mindset of coming in and we’ve got to go up and get boards and be aggressive,” said PCA forward Hannah Jones, who finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds. “Not try to be weak or anything like that.”
The Bears matched the Panthers in the second quarter, but still trailed by 21 points at the half.
“I’m just glad we jumped out to the big lead,” Graham said, “because it was even and tight the rest of the way. I think we tightened up a lot. Of course, they’re a great team so we know they’re going to fight and try to get back into it.
“I think we relaxed, especially after the half. I thought in the second quarter they just adjusted to what we were doing. We caught them off guard in the first quarter with our defense and our pressure and our trapping.”
Connell added 12 points, Avery Rogers had 10 and CoCo Thomas had eight points and nine rebounds for PCA (35-1). The Panthers did much of their work on the defensive end of the court, holding the sharpshooting Bears to 27 percent (13 of 48) from the field and 19 percent (5 of 26) from the 3-point arc.
“We watched a lot of film and had played them earlier this season and we saw how many open 3s they got,” Connell said. “That’s what they want and Coach Rob made sure to make a big deal of it, that we can’t let them beat us behind the 3-point line, so we put our best defenders on their best 3-point shooters and just tried to not let them get that area of the game going.”
“They have a lot of guards and they mainly shoot 3s,” Rogers added, “so we knew we had to switch up our defense and switch off screens and get out on the shooters and make them drive.”
Ali Price had nine points and five assists to lead Plainview, which ends the season at 27-9.
“A lot of respect for Prattville Christian,” Plainview coach Luke Griggs said. “We knew coming in they were a really good team and Coach Jason Roberson does a heck of a job. We knew they were going to hit us in the mouth. We were going to have to stand back up and fight back. They’re really big and strong and athletic and physical and we knew it was going to be a fight. I think they kind of punched us a little bit and it kind of knocked us back for the first quarter and a half.”
The Panthers will face Susan Moore, an 80-42 winner over Southside-Selma, in the finals on Friday. The two teams met last year in the semifinals as PCA rolled on to the 3A title.
“We want another shot,” Susan Moore coach Natasha Smallwood said. after their win. “We do. They’re a great team, coached very well, they have great players, I have a lot of respect for them. But we’re going to face the challenge. Hopefully, make it the best 3A state championship game there can be.”
The Panthers achieved part of their goal by reaching the title match. On Friday, they’ll try to finish the mission.
“It’s been our goal all season to make it back here,” Connell said, “and it’s a huge honor and a blessing. We have amazing coaches that have prepared us to come here.”