AHSAA SUB-REGIONALS: ACA earns comeback win to advance; Tallassee tops Talladega
Action from Alabama Christian’s win over Bibb County in Wednesday’s Class 4A Southeast Sub-regional game. (Graham Dunn)
By GRAHAM DUNN
It’s been the norm for Jalen Clark and Avery Stuart to feed off each other on offense during the high school basketball season. Positive emotions usually follow.
That has paid off for Alabama Christian Academy in the past and Wednesday night was no different.
Clark, the senior, kept the Eagles in the game for the first half and Stuart, the sophomore, took over in the final minutes to lead ACA to its first win in four decades in the Class 4A Southeast Sub-regional round over Bibb County.
The 56-52 victory moves ACA into the regional semifinals on Friday. The Eagles will travel to Tuskegee to face Booker T. Washington, a 63-49 winner over Dale County on Wednesday.
“It’s what we do,” Clark said when asked about the ACA duo. “It all started slow but I was just trying to crash the boards. The middle of the lane was open and we started taking advantage of it.”
Clark had 16 points in the first half including ACA’s lone 3-pointer of the game but Bibb County maintained a lead for most of the half. The Choctaws had a late 26-24 advantage before Preston Hicks scored on a lay in before the half ended to tie the game at 26-26.
Stuart spent most of the half sitting with foul trouble.
“Two of our main guys were in foul trouble,” ACA coach Steven Thomas said, referring also to forward Hayes Hunt. “We are thinking… get through this (second) quarter. Once they get in, the feel of the game will go to our favor. We saw that in the fourth quarter. Hayes made crucial plays on the defensive end. Jalen and Avery made big plays for us down the stretch.
“It’s been the two feeding off each other. Two athletic players and you see it on the football field, too. Avery had foul trouble early so we had to sit him but once he got back, it gave us a lift.”
Bibb County looked like it would win in a runaway with a solid third period but cooled off and led by just five heading into the fourth.
“We pride ourselves on defense,” Stuart said. “The key mindset was playing defense. getting a rhythm on offense. We have been preaching it all year. We have some athleticism and that’s what won us the game.”
After building the largest lead of the game, eight points, Bibb County went cold and Stuart and the Eagles began to chip away. With just under four minutes left, Stuart began a scoring barrage with seven consecutive points to give ACA the lead with 3:29 left.
Clark added a tip-in after a Braden Alford steal for a 50-46 ACA lead, which held until 42 seconds remaining when Bibb County’s Chris Billingsley converted a steal into points to tie the game at 52-52.
Stuart and Clark each hit two free throws in the final seconds, with the final pair coming after a blocked shot by Hunt to save the lead with 22 seconds left.
After scoring just three points in the first half, Stuart finished with 19 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Clark led all scorers with 22 points.
Bibb County (14-16) was led by Jaylon Chism with 18 points.
ACA (13-9) will make its first trip to the regional semifinals since 1998 when it reached it to the regional championship under Chris Goodman. Wednesday was just the boys’ second sub-regional win in school history.
“It’s a great feeling. being a senior, we want this make this a tradition,” Clark said. “This will be something to build on for the players as we go through.”
It’s been the norm for Jalen Clark and Avery Stuart to feed off each other on offense during the high school basketball season. Positive emotions usually follow.
That has paid off for Alabama Christian Academy in the past and Wednesday night was no different.
Clark, the senior, kept the Eagles in the game for the first half and Stuart, the sophomore, took over in the final minutes to lead ACA to its first win in the Class 4A Southeast Sub-regional round over Bibb County.
The 56-52 victory moves ACA into the regional semifinals on Friday. The Eagles will travel to Tuskegee to face Booker T. Washington, a 63-49 winner over Dale County on Wednesday.
“It’s what we do,” Clark said when asked about the ACA duo. “It all started slow but I was just trying to crash the boards. The middle of the lane was open and we started taking advantage of it.”
Clark had 16 points in the first half including ACA’s lone 3-pointer of the game but Bibb County maintained a lead for most of the half. The Choctaws had a late 26-24 advantage before Preston Hicks scored on a lay in before the half ended to tie the game at 26-26.
Stuart spent most of the half sitting with foul trouble.
“Two of our main guys were in foul trouble,” ACA coach Steven Thomas said, referring also to forward Hayes Hunt. “We are thinking… get through this (second) quarter. Once they get in, the feel of the game will go to our favor. We saw that in the fourth quarter. Hayes made crucial plays on the defensive end. Jalen and Avery made big plays for us down the stretch.
“It’s been the two feeding off each other. Two athletic players and you see it on the football field, too. Avery had foul trouble early so we had to sit him but once he got back, it gave us a lift.”
Bibb County looked like it would win in a runaway with a solid third period but cooled off and led by just five heading into the fourth.
“We pride ourselves on defense,” Stuart said. “The key mindset was playing defense. getting a rhythm on offense. We have been preaching it all year. We have some athleticism and that’s what won us the game.”
After building the largest lead of the game, eight points, Bibb County went cold and Stuart and the Eagles began to chip away. With just under four minutes left, Stuart began a scoring barrage with seven consecutive points to give ACA the lead with 3:29 left.
Clark added a tip-in after a Braden Alford steal for a 50-46 ACA lead, which held until 42 seconds remaining when Bibb County’s Chris Billingsley converted a steal into points to tie the game at 52-52.
Stuart and Clark each hit two free throws in the final seconds, with the final pair coming after a blocked shot by Hunt to save the lead with 22 seconds left.
After scoring just three points in the first half, Stuart finished with 19 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Clark led all scorers with 22 points.
Bibb County (14-16) was led by Jaylon Chism with 18 points.
ACA (13-9) will make its first trip to the regional semifinals since 1998 when it reached the regional championship under Chris Goodman. Wednesday was just the boys’ second sub-regional win in school history.
“It’s a great feeling. being a senior, we want this make this a tradition,” Clark said. “This will be something to build on for the players as we go through.”
Tallassee 86, Talladega 80
TALLASSEE – The Tigers overcame a five-point deficit to start the fourth quarter to win the Class 5A Southeast Sub-Regional game on Wednesday.
Talladega led for most of the game until the Tigers put together a run to lead by six in the final minute.
Jamicah Humphrey led the Tigers with 51 points.
Tallassee will travel to Greenville for the regional semifinals on Friday.
Catholic 70, Reeltown 36
LJ Green hit 10 of 13 shots, most coming on layups, to finish with 21 points, 10 steals and three assists as Catholic coasted past Reeltown in a 3A sub-regional matchup on Wednesday in the Catholic gym for their 13th consecutive win.
Catholic (18-5) will travel to Wicksburg for a Southeast Regional semifinal matchup on Friday, with the winner advancing to play the Dadeville-Houston Academy winner in Garrett Coliseum next week in the regional championship game.
Matthew Reardon added 12 points for the Knights, followed by Ethan Binns with nine points and DJ Jamerson with nine points and seven rebounds.
Jaevon Augustus led the rebounding effort with 10 boards, while Myles Butler and T.J. Dudley each had four assists to lead the team.
Dadeville 67, Trinity 51
DADEVILLE -- Randiez Eason proved to be too much for the Wildcats to overcome, scoring 17 of his 22 points in the second half to end the season for the Wildcats in a 3A sub-regional matchup on Wednesday in the Dadeville gym.
Dadeville will travel to Dothan to play Houston Academy in a Southeast Regional semifinal matchup on Friday, with the winner advancing to play the Wicksburg-Catholic winner in Garrett Coliseum next week in the regional championship game.
Trinity ends the season at 16-9.
Jordan Rambo had 17 points and Daquan Doss and Philstavious Dowdell each added nine as the trio helped Dadeville jump out to a quick 12-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 30-18 lead at the half. From there, Dadeville pounded the ball inside to the 6-foot-8 Eason, who scored nine points in the third quarter and eight more in the fourth to finish off the Wildcats.
Beau O’Ferrell had 14 points to lead Trinity, followed by Jon Cole Portis with nine. Pruitt Lee had all eight of his points in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats put together a 23-point effort in the final period that came too late.