FRIDAY HOOPS: Montgomery Academy boys earn key Area win; PCA tops Catholic
Trinity’s John Morris looks to shoot against MA’s DJ Vinson in the Eagles’ win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Sometimes, it can be as little as adjusting the pregame routines. Other times, it may just be the opponent.
Whatever the reason, a fired-up Montgomery Academy squad displayed 32 minutes of energy and intensity that had been missing from previous games, holding off a determined Trinity rally late to win the area opener between the two teams, 56-52, at Captain Jack Court on Friday night.
“That’s something we’ve been preaching,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “We’ve been starting poorly the last few weeks. I don’t know if this had any effect, but we changed our warmup a little bit, we did some different things in pregame, we just tried a bunch of different things to get our energy level high.
“We preached the last couple of days about what it means to be a team and how everybody is valuable and I thought our bench was huge tonight. They brought energy, kept our guys on the floor energized. When your bench is excited, your people on the floor are really excited.”
The Eagles jumped out to a 14-4 lead six minutes into the game, but Trinity would recover and chip away at the lead, finally grabbing a 25-24 lead on a Mac Stewart 3-pointer late in the second quarter. The Wildcats would take the lead once more, briefly in the middle of the third quarter, but Montgomery Academy led for virtually the entire game.
“I thought they did a good job of being aggressive on us tonight,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “It threw us off rhythm at times. I thought we did a really good job, especially in the second half, of executing some of our sets. I thought we hit some big shots down the stretch to keep us in it, but we came up short. I thought MA controlled the paint tonight and we’ve got to do a little better job of holding our own. Cayson Keller got three fouls in the first quarter, which was huge.”
With a little more than five minutes remaining, Montgomery Academy had an eight-point lead, but the Eagles’ failure to hit free throws (they made 6 of 12 in the fourth quarter) and a pair of huge 3-pointers by John Morris brought the Wildcats back.
“He’s a great player, so you hope your great players step up,” Arrighi said. “He missed some shots early that I know he was disappointed with, but coming down the stretch he gave us huge shots to keep us in the game.”
His second 3-pointer, with 32 seconds left, cut the lead to 53-52, but Montgomery Academy point guard Brewer Welch had all six of his points in the fourth quarter -- including four at the free-throw line -- to hold the Wildcats in check.
“Brewer was huge down the stretch,” Arant said. “He was really good all night, taking care of the ball for us. That’s something that he is really good at, a huge strength of his. It’s something that doesn’t necessarily show up (in the stats) unless you’re really looking for it.”
Arant also praised the play of reserve forward Graham Martin.
“You’ll never see anything that he does in the stat book,” Arant said. “But his energy is off the charts for us when he comes in. He played really well for us defensively and got a couple of buckets, which is a huge deal for us.”
Even after leading for virtually the entire game, Trinity’s Cooper Bernier launched a 3-point attempt with 14 seconds left that would have given the Wildcats the lead. Montgomery Academy rebounded the miss and Cole Caddell converted a layup on the other end of the floor to secure the victory.
“Look, they’ve got a great team and we told our guys before the game that resiliency was going to be a big part of this,” Arrighi said. “There was going to be ebbs and flows, that they would go on runs but we just had to stick with it and I was really proud of our guys because I thought they did that.
“We found ourselves with a chance to win. We got down by seven or eight in the fourth quarter and still had a chance.
Morris finished with 23 points, followed by Bernier with 10 as Trinity (11-5) dropped to 0-1 in 3A Area 6 play. The Wildcats will travel to ACA next Friday for another area game.
Skyler Stovall led Montgomery Academy (13-6, 1-0) with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and six steals despite leg cramps that sidelined him twice in the fourth quarter. Jarrett Friendly added seven points, seven rebounds and two steals, while DJ Vinson had six points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. The Eagles will play host to Providence Christian on Tuesday before returning to area play Friday at St. James.
After escaping with an area victory in front of an overflow crowd at Captain Jack Court, Arant counted his blessings after Friday’s win.
“This is my ninth season now and all of these games are close,” he said. “I think that’s just this game and this environment.”
Trinity girls race past MA
Defending 3A state champion Trinity didn’t face much opposition in its area opener, jumping on Montgomery Academy early and cruising to a 59-10 win over the Eagles at Captain Jack Court on Friday night.
The Wildcats (15-4) won with pressure defense and transition baskets, taking a 47-4 lead at the half on the way to their 11th consecutive victory.
“We’re playing with effort, we’re playing with a sense of urgency, we’re flying around the floor,” Trinity coach Blake Smith said. “I do think there are fixable mistakes we’re making in terms of how we’re handling a few things defensively. We’ll try to work on some of that tomorrow that we saw tonight.
“But as far as our mentality, confidence, effort, energy, camaraderie, we’re tracking where we want to be. Your core, they came out and they’re the ones that are going to bring the fight. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you respect everybody. MA plays hard and we’re going to respect them by coming out and giving it our best shot. Mya (Moskowitz), Francie (Morris), Maddie (Smith), there are multiple girls doing that, but those girls set the pace.”
Morris scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the first half, while Moskowitz added 15 points and Smith scored 11 of her 14 in the first half. All three played just three quarters.
Madison Yi led Montgomery Academy with four points.
Trinity improved to 1-0 in 3A Area 6 play, while Montgomery Academy (4-10) dropped to 0-1. The Wildcats will take a week off before resuming area play next Friday at Alabama Christian. Montgomery Academy will play Providence Christian at home on Tuesday, then resume area play with a game on Friday at St. James.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Prattville Christian 54, Catholic 47
PRATTVILLE -- Cade Segars scored his 1,000th career point in Friday’s contest, helping the Panthers to a 54-47 win over Catholic in the PCA gym.
PJ Evans led the Panthers with 24 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Segars added 17 points and four rebounds. Collier Connell had 11 points and four rebounds, while Justin Chapman grabbed eight rebounds.
The Knights shot just 33 percent (20 of 61) from the field, including just 2 of 20 from behind the 3-point arc. Leading scorer Jayden Phifer had 14 points, three rebounds and two steals but connected on just one of his 12 3-point attempts. Courtney Williams, like the rest of the Knights, struggled from the field as well, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals as Catholic (6-4) dropped its second game to PCA this season.
PCA (9-10) remains home to play Alabama Christian on Saturday at 5 p.m., while Catholic returns home to play host to Booker T. Washington in a 4A Area 4 game on Tuesday.
Hooper Academy 65, Crenshaw Christian 32
LUVERNE -- The Colts used a 20-point second quarter and a 23-point third quarter to pull away from Crenshaw Christian for their 10th consecutive win on Friday.
Nolan Cole led a balanced attack with 14 points, followed by Luke Mosley with 13, including eight in the second quarter. Lucas Spellman and Slade Russell each added 12 points for the Colts.
Hooper (11-3) returns home to play host to Edgewood Academy on Tuesday in the Colts’ area opener, while Crenshaw will play host to Lowndes Academy on Tuesday in its area opener.
Lowndes Academy 61, Chambers Academy 20
LOWNDESBORO -- The Rebels scored 15 unanswered points in the first quarter and outscored Chambers Academy 30-3 in the second half for an easy 61-20 win in the Lowndes Academy gym on Friday night.
Clayton Hussey had 28 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals to lead Lowndes to its ninth consecutive win. Zach Azar added 12 points, eight rebounds and a steal, followed by Pierson Hill with seven points, four rebounds and two steals, Watters Box with five points, three rebounds and three steals, David Calloway with three points, John Ross Hollingshead with two points, two rebounds and two assists, Andrew Myers with two points and Will Brassell with two points, two rebounds and two steals.
Lowndes (11-3) will travel to Luverne on Tuesday to open area play at Crenshaw Christian.
Glenwood 56, Macon East Academy 38
SMITHS STATION --Macon East dropped its third consecutive region game, falling at Glenwood 56-38 on Friday.
Keagan Roney led the Knights with 15 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots, a steal and an assist as Macon East fell to 1-3 in region play. Jacob Johnson added nine points, five assists and two rebounds, followed by Omarion Wilson with seven points and two rebounds.
Macon East (4-10) will travel to Lakeside School on Saturday and Springwood School on Monday.
Evangel Christian Academy 50, Lakeside 48
Down 30-18 in the first half, Evangel Christian’s defensive intensity turned the game around as the Lions outscored Lakeside 32-18 to get the hard fought win on Friday in the Evangel gym.
Andre Stoddard hit a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left to help the Lions tie the game at 47-47. Tylon Shine added a free throw and Jordan Duncan hit a floater in the lane to provide the game-winning points for Evangel with 16.1 seconds left.
Shine scored a game high 14 points while Stoddard and Duncan both scored nine points. Will McCord finished with seven points and Desi Stovall pulled down 12 rebounds.
The Lions (7-7) will travel to Autauga Academy on Monday.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Prattville Christian 58, Catholic 23
PRATTVILLE -- Kayden Carr scored 18 points to lead the PCA girls to an easy 58-23 win over the Knights in the PCA gym on Friday. Jenna McClendon added 17 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Avery Rogers with 15 points, six assists and five rebounds and Ally Blankinchip with six points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Leah Cate Wilson grabbed eight rebounds and LB NeSmith grabbed five.
PCA (14-4) will play host to Alabama Christian Academy on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
Lakeside 52, Evangel Christian 31
Chloe Helms scored 25 points to lead the Lakeside Chiefs past Evangel Christian on Friday in the Evangel gym.
Addy Helms added 13 points, followed by Dylin White with nine. Lakeside returns home to play host to Macon East Academy on Saturday.