CLASS 3A AREA 6 GIRLS FINAL: Trinity hands PCA first defeat of the season
PCA’s Ella Jane Connell is guarded by Trinity’s Maddie Smith and Kaylee Peevy in the 3A Area 6 tourney final on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
PRATTVILLE -- All good things must come to an end.
But while the state’s longest winning streak, owned by Prattville Christian Academy, was snapped on Thursday night, at least the Panthers get to continue playing.
Trinity, riding the exceptional performance of freshman forward Mya Moskowitz, handed the Panthers their first loss of the season, turning back Prattville Christian 52-45 in the championship game of the 3A Area 6 tournament in the PCA gym.
Both teams will renew their championship chase on Monday in the sub-regional round, but the next loss for either will mean the end of the season. Trinity (25-5) will play host to Reeltown in the sub-regional round on Monday at 6 p.m., while Prattville Christian (31-1) will travel to Dadeville.
And while Trinity’s win was a remarkable display of five starters each individually outplaying their PCA counterparts, Trinity coach Blake Smith wasn’t ready to change the balance of power.
“PCA is the best team in the state,” Smith said. “And this is the fourth time we’ve played them. I think our girls gave more energy and effort tonight, but I also think they were mentally aware of the details that they had to be aware of. But look, at the end of the day, (PCA) missed a bunch of shots. That plays into it a ton.”
PCA coach Jason Roberson, on the other hand, was ready to concede that his team, losing for the first time in 37 games, may not be the best girls’ team in central Alabama.
“I don’t think, necessarily, that we have the better team,” Roberson said. “They have two big-time college players on their team, maybe a third after what I saw tonight. So it’s going to come down to whoever plays the hardest and wants it the most. I think our girls wanted it, but I don’t think they wanted it as much as Trinity tonight. They played harder than us, they played stronger than us, they played tougher than us inside, made more big plays. That’s when you line up and shake their hands. They played great.”
The first quarter of the game started much like any other Trinity-PCA matchup over the past two years, with Trinity’s leading scorer, Emma Kate Smith, joined at the hip by PCA defender Avery Rogers and PCA’s top playmaker, Ella Jane Connell, locked in a battle for space by Trinity defender Maddie Smith. Connell hit a quick 3 pointer, PCA forward Hannah Jones sank a pair of inside looks and the Panthers were off and running to a 7-2 lead.
At that point, the game’s strategy -- and its outcome -- took a strange detour. Blake Smith seemed indifferent, almost content, to let Rogers chase Emma Kate Smith into a corner, turning the game into a four-on-four contest that surprisingly favored Trinity.
“One of the things that allows is a little bit of space for Mya,” Smith said. “Mya is good in space. We were going to come in and see how successful we could be with our ideas. And if it didn’t involve getting Emma Kate a ton of touches, then it just wasn’t going to be. So when we got the lead, we just kept running with it.
“If Maddie’s got a trap on her and they’re denying Emma Kate, it’s hard to find Emma Kate, so then Maddie’s got to find the right read. I thought she did a great job of finding that right read tonight.”
The right read favored the Trinity freshman and Moskowitz took the ball and went right at the experienced PCA post players with no fear or hesitation that you might expect from a first-year varsity player.
“At the start of the season, I knew this would be a tough season,” she said. “We knew they would be our biggest competition. I think we’ve got to understand that and understand the challenge to guard them but tonight I just had to give my all.”
The Wildcats trailed 24-22 at the half, but a 21-point third quarter by the Wildcats had PCA fans wondering what they were witnessing. As Moskowitz grew up in front of their eyes, every PCA shot seemed to rim out, leaving the Panthers on the stunning end of a 13-point deficit.
“I just told myself don’t look at the score, don’t look at the time,” Moskowitz said. “Once you get going, time goes by faster. Once you keep your head in it, you just have to bust your butt for every play. That’s what I told myself going into this game, just do everything I can for every possession.”
In the fourth quarter, an intense matchup developed as PCA players turned up their defense in an attempt to remain undefeated, while Trinity kept answering each challenge.
“I thought our girls, in the fourth quarter, came out and played with unbelievable passion and effort and fight,” Roberson said, “but we didn’t do that in the first three quarters. So they did it more consistently and we tried to do if after we were down 13 heading into the fourth quarter and it’s too late. Maybe they’ll understand we have to play with that intensity and that effort four four quarters against a really good team that can win the whole thing.”
CoCo Thomas finished with 14 points and nine rebounds to lead PCA, followed by Jones with 12 points and 11 rebounds, Connell with seven points, 10 rebounds and four assists, Rogers with seven points and four rebounds and Kayden Carr with three points and four rebounds.
And while no team ever wants to lose, the PCA players may have just received a much-needed wakeup call.
“I told them we were in the exact same situation last year,” Roberson said. “We lost the area tournament championship game and then we won five games in a row and were the state champs. Area tournament champions would be a good thing to be, but it’s a lot better to be the state champions and our goal is still in front of us.”
Moskowitz led the Wildcats with 22 points, followed by Maddie Smith with nine points and five assists, Emma Kate Smith with eight points and 10 rebounds, Mary Alice Sasser with eight points and nine rebounds and Kaylee Peevy with six points.
The day started with the somber news that the body of LaDarrien Wheat, whose brother attends Trinity, had been discovered in Blount Cultural Park after a two and a half week search. Wheat’s brother attended Thursday’s game, Blake Smith noted.
“We don’t think it’s just by accident that God planned it where the young man’s brother’s body would be found today, but that happened,” he said. “For us, this was in gratitude for his (the brother’s) presence at Trinity School and thankful that God has brought him there.”
The coaches did not choose a most valuable player for the tournament, but clearly Moskowitz was in a league of her own, at least on Thursday. All five of Trinity’s starters -- Moskowitz, Smith, Smith, Sasser and Peevy -- were selected for the all-tournament team, along with PCA’s Ella Jane Connell, Hannah Jones and CoCo Thomas, Montgomery Academy’s Chloe Johnson and Virginia Meachum and Catholic’s Allyce Rudolph and Hannah Smith.
A win on Monday sends both teams into the Southeast Regional at Garrett Coliseum. Another win puts both teams on a collision course for Feb. 22 at 3 p.m.
“I just think we have a big target now, so they’ll definitely be ready (if there’s another meeting),” Moskowitz said. “They’re going to be ready to beat everybody in front of them and we are too, so if we do meet again, which we might, we just have to stay in it and fight for everything in that game. We’ve worked all season for it. We’ve just got to finish.”
Next time, both teams will know what Trinity is capable of.
“We’ve got to play them again in two weeks, if we win (the next two games),” Smith said. “That doesn’t make it any easier. It probably makes it harder.”