FRIDAY PREPS: Trinity girls, MA boys win area tilts; Catholic boys beat PCA
Maddie Smith drives through MA defenders during Trinity’s win over the Lady Eagles Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Trinity coach Blake Smith had a simple message for his oldest daughter.
Emma Kate Smith has seen her share of accolades over her career, but at this time of the year, it’s time to prove her value once again if the Wildcats are to make a deep run in the playoffs.
“There’s been times this year where she’s been a little passive,” Smith said, “and we’re on her right now. She’s our motor. She’s got to be aggressive and let it fly when she can let it fly.”
Smith “let it fly” with a 3 pointer late in the first quarter and two more in the second to help the Wildcats pull away from a determined Montgomery Academy squad for a 60-37 win in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Joe Mooty Court on Friday night.
With the win, Trinity (18-4) improved to 3-2 in area play with a Tuesday game at Catholic (1-3) to determine the second seed in the area. Montgomery Academy (9-10) dropped to 0-4 in area play with games remaining against Prattville Christian on Tuesday and Catholic on Thursday.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” Montgomery Academy coach Reg Mantooth said, “but we also didn’t play as well as I think we can play. We’ve just got to play smarter in the half court. We didn’t guard them very good in the first half. They’ve got really good shooters, but we left them open a couple of times, too, and that’s definitely not the plan.”
Montgomery Academy cut the deficit to 10 points early in the third quarter, but could never find the offensive spark to keep pace with the Wildcats. Chloe Johnson and Virginia Meacham each had 11 points, but Johnson was hounded most of the night and Meacham had an off night on the offensive end.
“I respect that team a lot,” Blake Smith said. “Chloe’s a winner and she’s going to go out a winner. She’s going to fight ‘till the end. And that team has kids that fight to the end. Virginia’s like that. They play hard, they’re coached well, they’re not an easy team to play.”
Emma Kate Smith finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but was assisted in the paint by Mya Moskowitz, who recorded her first double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Emma Kate’s younger sister Maddie also had 15 points (along with six rebounds, five assists and five steals), getting half of her points on a 7-for-7 performance at the free-throw line.
The younger Smith also found herself guarding Johnson for much of the evening.
“It wears Maddie out because (Johnson) starts putting her head down and attacking,” Blake Smith said. “Now, we did have some breakdowns in what our backside defense was supposed to be doing but she’s crafty when she gets in there (in the lane). Later on, we started running double teams to try and tire her out.”
The Wildcats often limited Montgomery Academy to one shot on the offensive end, using a dominating rebounding effort to swing the game in their favor. Mary Alice Sasser had eight points and five rebounds in the win and Addison Cherry had 10 rebounds along with her four points.
MA boys win close battle over Trinity
Thanks to some poor free-throw shooting by Montgomery Academy, the Trinity boys still had a shot to win in the final seconds of Friday’s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Joe Mooty Court.
But as the Wildcats have discovered in recent weeks, particularly in 3A Area 6 battles against evenly matched foes, the wins have been nearly impossible to close out.
“For most of our games, we could just hit ‘play’ on a tape recorder and the postgame message is kind of the same,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “We have the same mistakes that just eat away in close games where you can’t win.
“Any time you come up short, you have three or four areas of the game you can analyze and pick apart that killed you. I think they had three offensive rebounds on missed free throws tonight. That’s the kind of stuff that just can’t happen if you’re going to win close games.”
A pair of free throws by Judson Lindsey, and another by Lindsey moments later, was enough to help the Eagles secure the second seed in the upcoming area tournament with a 65-61 win over the Wildcats in front of an overflow crowd.
“It’s a huge area win for us,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “On top of that, it being Coaches vs. Cancer night and everybody being here kind of makes the atmosphere a little bit bigger.”
Montgomery Academy (6-8) improved to 3-2 in area play, securing the second seed in the area tournament at top-seeded Catholic in mid-February. Trinity (12-9) dropped to 1-4 in area play, tied with Prattville Christian as Trinity travels to Catholic and PCA travels to Montgomery Academy on Tuesday. Should both teams finish tied after Tuesday, a coin flip will determine the third seed and a semifinal area tournament matchup with Montgomery Academy for a sub-regional playoff berth.
The Eagles surged ahead early and had the upper hand for much of the night, but Trinity was never far behind, thanks to an impressive performance by Cal Bennett. The Wildcats’ leading scorer had 18 points at the half and finished with 32, keeping his team within striking distance of the Eagles.
“Cal, sometimes, forces a little bit but I feel like he feels that he has to,” Arrighi said. “Particularly tonight, we couldn’t get anybody else going. He was carrying us in the first half. He was doing an unbelievable job.”
At halftime, Arant put Nigel Walker on Bennett. When Walker got in foul trouble, he assigned the task to Jamal Cooper.
“Cal played a heck of a game,” Arant said. “He really kept them in the game in the first half. We had Jamal on him almost the whole fourth quarter. He’s just so physical, he can guard almost anybody.”
Putting Cooper on Bennett might have drained the MA senior a little on the offensive end but Cooper had a spectacular night of his own, scoring 12 points in the first half and 18 in the first three quarters before finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
“Obviously, he’s a great player, but he’s a great kid, too,” Arant said. “We didn’t play real well Tuesday at Catholic and I challenged him and Judson and Nigel and Jashawn (Cooper) and told them, ‘we’re going to go how y’all go.’ We had two of our better days of practice and that’s a credit to them. But he was special tonight.”
Walker, too, had perhaps his best night with 14 points and eight rebounds, holding Bennett to two points on the defensive end of the floor in the third quarter before picking up his fourth personal foul late in the third quarter, severely limiting him on both ends of the floor.
“We’ve been working really hard the last two days about being under control,” Arant said. “Nigel is a tough matchup at almost 6-foot-4 and he can handle the ball, but his biggest problem is being under control when he gets around the basket. He did a really good job of that tonight.”
Trinity trimmed a 10-point deficit to four points midway through the final quarter, but could not find the offensive spark to catch the Eagles, even as Montgomery Academy was struggling mightily at the free-throw line, hitting just 9 of 25 attempts in the final quarter.
“We have a good team but not a great team, so we have to do the little parts of the game right,” Arrighi said. “You have to be solid in your defensive rotation, you have to be solid in your rebounding, particularly when the other team is shooting free throws. You have to be solid in taking care of the ball. Especially in the first half, we had a lot of turnovers.”
Jashawn Cooper had nine points and 10 rebounds to help the Eagles, while DJ Vinson had nine points and eight rebounds. While eight players from Trinity scored, no one other than Bennett was in double figures. Mac Davis was next with seven points.
BOYS
Catholic 72, Prattville Christian 60
PRATTVILLE -- T.J. Dudley and Ethan Binns each scored 17 points to lead Catholic to a 72-60 win over Prattville Christian in a 3A Area 6 game in the PCA gym on Friday night.
In winning its fifth straight game, Catholic (9-7) improved to 5-0 in area play with a home game remaining against Trinity on Tuesday. PCA (8-16) dropped to 1-4 in area play, tied with Trinity for third place, as the Panthers close out area play with a game at Montgomery Academy on Tuesday.
Dudley had 17 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, taking charge of the offense at times with LJ Green in foul trouble. Binns sank three 3 pointers to finish with 17 points and six rebounds.
Matthew Reardon added 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, while Jonathan Rhoden had nine points and five rebounds.
Conner Williams led the Panthers with 15 points, followed by Carson Roberson with 12, Cade Segars with 10 points and nine rebounds and PJ Evans with nine points and six rebounds. Brady Roberson had six points and nine rebounds, while Camron Coleman scored six points.
In the junior varsity game, Cooper Osborne led the Panthers with 14 points and four rebounds in a 48-29 loss to the Knights. Collier Connell added eight points, while Ryan Kiefer had four points and seven rebounds. Anderson Burkhart scored three points and Collin Ross grabbed eight rebounds for PCA (2-11).
St. James 58, Elmore County 43
St. James finally hit the floor after two postponements earlier in the week and secured a 15-point victory over the Panthers on Friday night in the Trojans’ gym.
Bradley Thomas led the way with 19 points and Matt Middleton added 13. Saint James led 17-7 at the end of the first quarter and Elmore County could never get closer than six points the remainder of the game.
Jabari Murphy and Peyton Stephenson each scored 13 to lead Elmore County.
Saint James (10-5) will travel to LAMP on Saturday to play a game rescheduled from Thursday, then will return home for an area game with Booker T. Washington on Tuesday.
Autauga Academy 90, Cornerstone Christian 56
PRATTVILLE -- Josh Palmer had 28 points, 11 rebounds and a pair of assists to help the Generals to an easy 90-56 win over the Chargers in a Class AA Region 1 Area 2 game in the Autauga gym on Friday night.
Rob Rose also had 28 points for Autauga (13-0), along with 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Pharrell Banks had seven points, 11 assists, five rebounds and five steals and AJ Perry had 16 points, 10 assists and four rebounds.
GIRLS
Prattville Christian 65, Catholic 22
PRATTVILLE -- Hannah Jones had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Panthers to their 31st consecutive win with a 43-point rout of the Knights on Friday.
PCA (26-0) improved to 5-0 in 3A Area 6 play, followed by Trinity at 3-2, Catholic (11-6) at 1-3 and Montgomery Academy at 0-4. The Panthers travel to Montgomery Academy on Tuesday, while Catholic returns home to play Trinity.
Avery Rogers added 12 points for PCA, followed by CoCo Thomas with eight points and 18 rebounds, Kayden Carr with eight points and four rebounds and Nya Davis and Jenna McClendon with four points each. Ella Jane Connell added three points, five rebounds, and seven assists and Makenna Simpson, Sarah Williams, Ally Blankinchip and Natalee Wheeler all scored two points each as all 11 players scored.
St. James 55, Elmore County 14
St. James won its 18th consecutive matchup against the Lady Panthers, maintaining a streak that started in 2001.
The Trojans’ second quarter magic continued as they broke open a tight 9-7 lead at the beginning of the second quarter with 15 unanswered points to take a 17-point lead into the locker room.
Saint James also held the Panthers scoreless in the fourth quarter as well.
Ava Card led the way with 24 points and Danielle Greene added 12.
The Lady Trojans (15-5) travel to LAMP on Saturday to play a game rescheduled from Thursday.
From Thursday
BOYS
Evangel Christian 65, Crenshaw Christian 29
Kennedy Holland scored a team-high 10 points to lead the Lions to their seventh consecutive win in a Class A Region 1 Area 1 game in the Evangel Christian gym on Thursday night.
Evangel, which has been idle for nearly two weeks because of COVID issues, moved to two games over .500 (at 9-7) for the first time this season and to 2-0 in area play with games remaining at Crenshaw on Monday and against Abbeville Christian on Jan. 25.
Jeremiah Williams added nine points for the Lions, while Tyler James and Rydel Martin each chipped in eight points.
Macon East Academy 45, Chambers Academy 41
CECIL -- The Knights evened the season series with the Rebels, winning 45-41 on Thursday to bring their AA Region 1 Area 1 record to 1-1 with a pair of area games against Lakeside next week.
Brandon Wilkins had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists for Macon East, while Maurice Poole added 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals in the win.
Tyler Daniels added nine points, 21 rebounds and six blocked shots, followed by Keegan Roney with four points, Garrison Miller and Gunner Justice with three points each and Jackson Todd with two points.
Caden Haley led Chambers with 13 points, followed by Kross Colley with 12.
Autauga Academy 95, Ezekiel Christian 36
PRATTVILLE -- Rob Rose scored 30 points, pulled down eight rebounds, dished out four assists and recorded three steals to lead unbeaten Autauga past Ezekial Christian 95-36 on Thursday.
Pharrell Banks added 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, sis steals and a blocked shot for the Generals (12-0), while Josh Palmer had 15 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, six steals and three blocked shots and AJ Perry had 13 points, six assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals.
GIRLS
Edgewood Academy 65, Hooper Academy 28
HOPE HULL -- Jaylyn Strength scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the first quarter to help the Wildcats out to a commanding 21-7 lead in a AA Region 1 Area 2 battle at Darrell Self Gym on Thursday night.
With the win, Edgewood clinched first place in the area and drew a first-round bye in the state playoffs, advancing to the Elite Eight at the Multiplex on Feb. 8.
Lindsey Brown added 13 points, followed by Kenndy Mensch with nine and Madison Martin with eight as the Wildcats won their seventh straight game.
Emma Griggs led the Colts with seven points.
Pike Road 45, Beauregard 14
BEAUREGARD -- Jada Roberts scored 18 points and Jazz Johnson added 17 as the Patriots won a 5A Area 5 game on the road on Thursday night.
Pike Road (15-7) improved to 3-1 in area play with games remaining at Tallassee on Tuesday and at Brew Tech on Friday. Brew Tech is in first place at 2-0, while Beauregard drops to third place with a 2-2 record.
WRESTLING
Prattville Christian 42, St. James 34
PRATTVILLE -- The PCA wrestling Panthers closed out Senior Night on a winning note, defeating St. James in a duel meet that came down to the final match of the night.
PCA was led by its one and only senior, Andrew Allen, picking up a big win at 170 pounds. Sophomore Aidan Cockrell picked up the deciding win at Heavyweight by pin.
Other winners on the night were Brysen Pugh, Logan Post, Spencer Perkins and Brody Pugh.
PCA returns to action next Thursday when it travels to Catholic to take on the Knights and St. James. On Saturday the Panther wrestling team travels to Piedmont to take part in the 16-team Piedmont Dog Fight Individual Tournament.