BOYS HOOPS: Montgomery Academy stops LAMP; STJ tops PCA

LAMP’s Jezreel Fishoe goes up against MA’s DJ Vinson and Cole Caddell (5) in Tuesday’s game between the Eagles and Golden Tigers. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

One place where Montgomery Academy has an advantage on some teams is perimeter shooting.

The Eagles, looking a lot like LAMP teams from four or five years ago, were firing away from the perimeter, knocking down eight 3-pointers to get off to a fast start and subdue a stubborn group of Golden Tigers, 60-41, in the LAMP gym on Tuesday night.

Montgomery Academy jumped out to a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Golden Tigers would not go away, continually chipping away until a pair of technical fouls sent the Eagles to the free-throw line where they were able to extend the lead.

“We shot it pretty good for a stretch,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “Cole (Caddell) got going a little bit in the first half. Give them a lot of credit in the third quarter. We came out at the beginning of the quarter and stretched it to 14 points and they could have easily gone away, but they stayed in it and fought and battled.” 

Actually, a decision by LAMP coach Robb McGaughey probably helped the Eagles a little in the first quarter when he decided to play each of his eight seniors for long stretches in the first quarter.  

“We didn’t fill it up tonight,” McGaughey said. “Our defense kept up in the game for a while. Tonight was a big celebration and all eight seniors got to get in and contribute at some point. For a program like ours, that’s a big thing to do.”

With the regular starting lineup on the floor for the second quarter, the Golden Tigers were able to cut into the deficit in each of the next two quarters, only to watch as Montgomery Academy heated up from the perimeter each time to answer the challenge.

 I felt like we had some shots in the third quarter when we were down eight … and it could have been cut to four points,” McGaughey said. “That’s just something we try to reinforce to them that it’s getting to playoff time and every point matters, every possession matters. Hopefully, we’ll grow from this.”

Jezreel Fishoe led the Golden Tigers with 13 points, followed by Ezekiel Griffin with 11. LAMP (8-19) closes out the regular season at Brew Tech on Friday before opening play in the 4A Area 4 tournament on Wednesday at Catholic against Booker T. Washington at 5 p.m.

“We’ve been playing really strong the last couple of weeks,” McGaughey said. “There are a lot of good teams in our area and we’ve competed with all of them. Every game we’ve played in this year, we’ve competed. Putting it all together for four quarters? Not as much as we would like, but the opportunity is there.”

Skyler Stovall led Montgomery Academy with 17 points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists, followed by Cole Caddell with 15 points and three rebounds, DJ Vinson with nine points and seven rebounds, Brewer Welch with seven points, four assists and a pair of steals and JaShawn Cooper with six points and eight rebounds.

Montgomery Academy (13-10) closes out the regular season with a game at Class 6A Wetumpka on Thursday before opening play in the 3A Area 6 tournament on Tuesday at St. James against Trinity.

St. James 48, Prattville Christian 38

PRATTVILLE -- Ethan Beard scored 14 points, Paxton Wingard added 13 and KJ Jackson had 10 to lead the Trojans to their eighth consecutive win in the PCA gym on Tuesday night.

St. James (13-5) will play host to Marbury on Friday and remain home to play Alabama Christian Academy in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament on Tuesday.

PJ Evans led the Panthers with nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Conner Williams added nine points and four rebounds, Carson Roberson scored nine points, Brady Roberson scored five points and Cade Segars scored three.

PCA (14-15) will travel to play Brew Tech on Thursday in their last game of the regular season before opening play in the 4A Area 5 tournament in Camden next week.

Greenville 92, Catholic 89

The Knights’ offense set a season high in the regular season finale but also allowed a season high in losing to the 5A Tigers 92-89 on Tuesday night in the Catholic gym.

LJ Green had 29 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and five assists for the Knights, which lost for the first time in seven games. Josh Palmer added 21 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots, followed by Brennan Binns with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists and Jayden Phifer with 10 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.

Catholic (13-6) returns to action at home on Feb. 8 in the opening round of the 4A Area 4 tournament against Bullock County.

Alabama Christian Academy 51, Ellwood Christian 16

Mac Moorer had 26 points, seven steals and two assists to help the Eagles snap a 13-game losing streak with a win over Ellwood Christian on Tuesday in the ACA gym.

Moorer scored seven points in the first quarter and 15 in the second to help the Eagles storm out to a 34-10 halftime lead.

Christian Snipes added eight points, three rebounds and a pair of steals and Jayden Jones had five points and two rebounds for the Eagles.

Kendrick Munford led Ellwood Christian with 12 points.

Alabama Christian (6-19) travels to Notasulga on Thursday and plays host to Pike Liberal Arts on Friday before facing St. James in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament at St. James on Tuesday.

Macon East Academy 66, Lakeside School 27

CECIL -- Brandon Wilkins had 15 points and five rebounds and Jacob Wilson had 14 points, six assists and a pair of steals to lead the Knights to a win over the Chiefs on Monday night in the Macon East gym.

Macon East (22-5) traveled to Southern Prep on Tuesday to close out the regular season.