PCA HOOPS: Front court duo of Jones and Thomas makes Panthers more dangerous
Junior Hannah Jones is part of a dynamic duo in the front court for the PCA Lady Panthers. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Prattville Christian Academy girls basketball coach Jason Roberson often refers to his post players as his “Twin Towers.” The dual threat of 6-foot juniors CoCo Thomas and Hannah Jones in the paint creates a tough obstacle for any 3A team that makes the Panthers a more dangerous team than the 2021 squad that won a state championship.
“We’re definitely different,” Roberson said. “Last year, especially at the beginning of the year, we were guard oriented and we were trying to grow our young post players. As they improved and as they had some good games, confidence comes. Right now, both of them are very confident players, our team knows that, so we look for them.
“We play more inside-out than outside-in now.”
Prattville Christian (20-0) opens area play this weekend with four consecutive area games, a one-game break and then two more area battles that will determine the regular-season champion -- and the host site for the end-of-season area tournament -- in the ultra-competitive 3A Area 6. After returning four starters from a state championship team, the Panthers are the odds-on favorite to earn the regular season title, placing a target squarely on the backs of the players.
“I just feel like we need to stay humble and keep that hunger,” Thomas said. “You know, we won a state championship but we don’t want to be cocky or anything because now we have a target on our back and everyone wants to beat us so we have to go into every game and play every game hard and give every game our best game like it’s our last.”
For opposing coaches, defending PCA is like picking your poison. You could try to contain guard Ella Jane Connell last year, keep a hand in shooting guard Avery Rogers’ face and hope that either Thomas or Jones -- or hopefully both -- wouldn’t have a good game.
This year, you’re trying to corral Thomas and Jones while understanding that Connell and Rogers can still shoot you out of the gym.
“Their post players have developed enough where if you leave them singled up down there, they’re going to score a lot of points,” Trinity coach Blake Smith noted. “(Roberson) would know better than me, but I think some of (their development) is they were forced to because people were trying to take away their guards. If you don’t develop, your team’s not any good.”
The two are fairly interchangeable. Jones generally plays a little more aggressive on the offensive end, leaving Thomas to clean up any mistakes, and can bounce outside and shoot 3 pointers from time to time, creating huge matchup problems for some teams.
Jones sees no difference in their performance on the court. Thomas makes a slight adjustment.
“She goes to the basket stronger than I do,” Thomas said. “I like to fall away from the basket.”
Jones brings a lot of offensive weapons to the court, while Thomas is still developing her game.
“I started playing basketball my eighth grade year,” Thomas said. “I didn’t know anything about basketball when I first tried out for it, but I’ve grown to like it and now it’s my favorite sport.”
Smith, who has two upcoming battles with the “Twin Towers” over the next two weeks, will try to find a way to push the two out of the lane, understanding that anything else won’t keep them from scoring.
“With CoCo, we see somebody who is an extremely strong, explosive athlete,” Smith said, “who has a high motor. She may not have all the post moves but because of her size and her motor, she’s going to get a lot of balls around the basket and will jump up and put it in.”
Jones, he added, “will catch it in the air, put a little move on you and then shoot a little baby hook over the top.”
They trailed by double digits in the second half against Hamilton in the Winfield Christmas Classic before rallying to win by four, their only true challenge this season. In the opening round of the Capital City Conference Tournament, Montgomery Academy kept the game close before losing by 12 points after Jones skipped the tournament opener to attend a volleyball clinic.
“My way to stop them is to get her to go back to the volleyball tryout she was at on Saturday when she didn’t play,” Smith joked.
Thomas went over the 1,000-point career total in that tournament, while Connell -- the reigning 3A player of the year -- went over the 2,000-point total the following week in Winfield. But Connell has now become more of a floor leader, rarely needed to take over a game with the emergence of Thomas and Jones this season.
“I feel like this year we rely more on the post, more than we did last year,” Jones said. “At the beginning of last year, we weren’t as strong as we could have been. This year, we had to come in with a mindset that we have to dominate, that people are relying on us to finish.”
The pair are dominant at the 3A level, but wouldn’t have the same effect at the major college level as 6-foot post players. Still, both are among the top juniors in the state that surprisingly haven’t generated much attention from college recruiters. Ole Miss coaches asked a few questions about Jones -- whose wingspan and 3-point ability increase her value -- but the state’s smaller schools have surprisingly been silent.
“I don’t understand why every small college coach hasn’t already offered them,” Roberson said. “In the rankings, Coco is rated the eighth best prospect in the state of Alabama in the Class of 2023 and Hannah is rated the ninth best prospect. So I don’t know why there’s not college offers already on the table.”
Jones prefers to keep her focus on this year’s goal and will worry about college recruiting later.
“I feel like this year, since we have a target on our back, we all come humble to play,” Jones said. “We don’t play arrogant. I don’t think anybody on our team is arrogant. We’re all trying to help each other to get to the goal we’re all trying to reach, like being undefeated this season and trying to get another championship. I feel like everybody’s after the same goal.”