GIRLS SUB-REGIONAL: Catholic eliminates PCA; MA, St. James advance
Catholic’s Kierstyn Green dribbles past Jenna McClendon in the Knights’ win over PCA on Friday in the Class 4A Central Sub-Regional. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
PRATTVILLE -- Hannah Smith had a fire in her eyes and a determination to send Catholic into the regionals next week..
“I knew this was do or die, so I just had to give it my all,” Smith said. “That’s how I always play.”
Smith’s physical presence was the difference in Friday’s Class 4A sub-regional matchup as she had 20 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and four assists in Catholic’s 57-42 win over Prattville Christian in the PCA gym on Friday night.
Catholic (19-7) advanced to the Central Regional and will play Anniston in the regional semifinals on Wednesday at either 3 p.m. or 6 p.m. at Alabama State’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome. For the Knights, a regional trip this year helps ease the sting of last year’s double-overtime loss to Jackson in the sub-regionals.
“It feels great,” Smith said. “It feels amazing.”
Catholic wouldn’t have earned the trip without Smith, whose eight second quarter points helped her team break a 20-20 tie and send the Knights into the locker room with a 29-20 lead.
“We knew the physicality of the game was going to be one that we had to step up to and I think we had a few players trying to do that,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said. “But in the end, they were more physical than us. They got a good number of rebounds -- we had them with 13 offensive rebounds -- and they got three or four in a stretch. We got it back to 20-20 and I felt like we finally caught back up, we’re going to be in this game until the end and then they scored the next nine points.”
Smith went through the first quarter with more assists (two) than field goals (one) as PCA point guard Kayden Carr guarded her closely, but the Catholic star heated up with eight points in the second quarter and nine more in the second half, along with several crucial rebounds that kept possessions alive for the Knights.
“Big players show up for big games,” Catholic coach Jill Clark said. “I kind of put it on both Hannah and Heaven (Bailey) tonight. Both of you have got to bring it, we’ve got to play, this is it for us. We’ve played in big games, but we haven’t been able to finish the big games. But tonight, everybody contributed and that’s what we’ve got to have. Everybody’s got to step up on offense and hit some shots and they did.”
Kierstyn Green added 12 points for the Knights, followed by Grace Levanda with 11 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal, Ajah Tuggle with 10 points and Heaven Bailey with four points, five rebounds, eight assists and six steals.
Once the Knights closed out the first half with a 9-0 run, Smith hit a 3-pointer to open the second half and Catholic was able to maintain a comfortable cushion the remainder of the game.
“We really just locked in,” Smith said. “I told them we’ve got to go, we have to push it.”
Jenna McClendon led PCA with 21 points and 14 rebounds but the Panthers struggled to find any offensive rhythm against the Knights.
“Those two players asserted their will,” Roberson said of McClendon and Smith. “Jenna ended up with 21 points and 14 rebounds for us, but you have to have more than one (player). Hannah played great. I think Jenna dominated down low in the post and Hannah just kind of dominated the game in the middle of the floor.
“We haven’t necessarily been shooting the ball great lately, down the stretch, so that concerned me a little. Of course, we’re going to be confident when we’re open, but we needed to make more than we made tonight to give ourselves a chance.”
Ally Blankinchip added eight points and four rebounds for PCA (21-10), but the Panthers’ hopes of rallying late suffered a huge blow when Carr was hit in the face and injured 13 seconds into the fourth quarter. She left the floor and did not return.
“She was starting to come around,” Clark said. “You hate to see that in a game like this, but that’s part of it.”
Without Carr, there wasn’t enough experience on the floor to stage a late rally. Shifting Blankinchip from Bailey to Smith helped some on the defensive end of the floor, but it was too late for an offensive rally.
“I actually think we did a very good job when (Carr) went out,” Roberson said. “I was kind of surprised. Ally just took charge for us as a senior should. She attacked, she made passes, she hit 3s. Down the stretch, I thought she was great. That girl is just a warrior. She left it all on the floor, for sure.”
But as time ran out, it was Catholic celebrating a return to the regionals. PCA, which had won its previous six sub-regional games, had its season cut short, failing to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2020.
“It’s tough right now,” Roberson said. “They were sad and upset because we’re used to winning and we’re used to advancing pretty far in the playoffs. We’ve been fortunate enough and blessed enough to win state championships. When you get to that point, it is tougher to take when you fall short of your goals. But in the end, you can only do all that you can do. For whatever reason, we didn’t have enough pieces to beat the good teams that we played this year.”
Montgomery Academy 49, Lee-Scott Academy 22
AUBURN -- Caroline Waller had 13 points, a rebound, three assists and a pair of steals to lead the Eagles back to the regionals with a 49-22 win over Lee-Scott in a 3A sub-regional game in the Warriors’ gym.
Montgomery Academy (12-17) will advance to the regional for the first time since 2021, facing the winner of Friday’s Sumter Central-Midfield game at Alabama State’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Wednesday at noon.
The two teams battled evenly in the first quarter, with Montgomery Academy holding a slight 11-8 lead, before the Eagles went on to outscore the Warriors 38-14 over the final three quarters.
E.G. Hines hit a trio of 3-pointers, finishing with nine points and three steals. Bailey Davis added eight points, a rebound, two steals and a pair of blocked shots. Kaci Armistead, Garland Thomas and Sophia Cho all contributed five points each for the Eagles, while Armistead also had four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Thomas added three assists, while Cho had a rebound, two steals and four assists.
Montgomery Academy’s regional appearance will be the 21st in the 31-year history of the regionals.
St. James 87, Glenwood 18
Kaitlin Mitchell led four players in double figures with 21 points as St. James blasted Glenwood 87-18 in a 3A sub-regional game in the St. James gym on Friday night.
The Trojans won for the 17th consecutive time, dating back to a Dec. 19 loss to Class 7A Vestavia Hills, and tied the 1998 team for the school record for wins with 31. St. James (31-2) will play Hale County in the Central Regional at Alabama State’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome on Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Glenwood School, the former Alabama Independent School Association team playing its first season as an Alabama High School Athletic Association member, ended the season at 17-9.
St. James posted its sixth consecutive sub-regional win in impressive fashion, taking care of the Gators in quick fashion. Mitchell finished with 21 points, two rebounds and three assists, while Natalie Barton had 15 point.
Eighth grader Jordyn McRae had a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, along with six steals and four assists. Eighth grader Morgan Lilly also had 11 points, along with a rebound, a steal and a pair of assists.
Sydney Johnston scored seven points and dished out nine assists, along with a rebound and two steals and both Kaden Fair and Londyn Swain scored six points each. Lily Stanford added five points, two steals and an assist, KK Corley had three points, two rebounds, a steal and an assist and Elliette Barton scored two points.