AHSAA Girls Hoops: STJ wins Area tourney
Lady Trojans’ Ava Card attempts a block of the shot of BTW’s Jordan Fitzpatrick in the Class 4A, Area 3 final on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Booker T. Washington scored first, but the drama ended quickly in the 4A Area 3 championship game on Thursday night.
St. James converted turnovers into transition baskets in the second quarter and pulled away for a 52-39 win, holding off several attempts to rally by the Golden Eagles in the second half.
“Our defensive pressure in the halfcourt was pretty good and it forced some turnovers,” St. James coach Katie Barton said. “Offensively, I wished we could have executed a little better in the halfcourt. We were being a little impatient tonight.”
St. James (17-7) remains home to play Straughn in the sub-regional round on Monday at 6:30 p.m. The Trojans defeated Straughn 51-41 in the opening weekend of the season in a tournament at St. James.
Booker T. Washington will travel to Geneva for a sub-regional game on Monday.
“It helps to not have to travel an hour and 45 minutes,” Barton said. “We’ve played (Area 2 finalists) Geneva and Straughn both this year, so we know a little bit about them. It’s nice to be at home instead of having to go to their place.”
KK Hall led the Trojans with five 3 pointers, hitting at least one in each quarter. Her third-quarter shot finished off the Golden Eagles, who had trimmed a 32-16 deficit to nine points on a 3 pointer by Zakiyah Alexander.
The Trojans led early before Booker T. Washington crept quietly back into the game, trailing by just a basket heading into the second quarter. At that point, the Trojans scored several baskets in transition and took a 25-14 lead at the half, expanding it to 32-16 with the help of eight points in the quarter from Ava Card.
It was Card who helped quiet the Golden Eagles after Hall countered Alexander’s 3 pointer with one of her own. Alexander, who finished with 11 points, hit another 3 but a quick transition seconds later resulted in a 3 pointer by Card, who had 16 points in the game.
Hall was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Danielle Greene and Card, along with Dashala Robinson and Makayla Sanders of Booker T. Washington.
St. James has won 10 out of its last 12 games, with the only losses during that span to Montgomery Academy and Prattville Christian Academy, two of the state’s top 3A programs.
“We’re in a good place,” Barton said. “We get to host the sub-regional and we’re playing one of two teams that we’ve played so they’re not completely unfamiliar to us, so I feel good about that.”