PREP HOOPS: Autaugaville stops PCA; Evangel, Macon East win

STAFF REPORT

BOYS

Autaugaville 68, Prattville Christian 61

AUTAUGAVILLE -- The defending 1A state champs handed Prattville Christian its first loss of the 2021-22 season, defeating the Panther 68-61 in the Autaugaville gym on Friday night.

Freshman Conner Williams led PCA (2-1) with 19 points and 5 rebounds, followed by freshman PJ Evans with 16 points and six rebounds. Carson Roberson had 16 points and 4 rebounds, while Camron Coleman added five points and four rebounds. Brady Hughes grabbed five rebounds and Cade Segars scored three points.

In the junior varsity boys’ game, Collier Connell had 10 points, scoring nearly half of the Panthers’ points in a 43-22 loss to the Eagles. Collin Ross added five points and five rebounds and Brodie Whirley had three points and four rebounds. Ryan Kiefer and Anderson Burkhart each grabbed four rebounds for PCA (2-1). 

Evangel Christian 42, Valiant Cross 36 

In their first-ever meeting, Evangel Christian and Valiant Cross battled back and forth with inconsistent play on the offensive end before Evangel outscored Valiant Cross 11-4 in the final four minutes to pull away for a 42-36 victory in the Evangel gym on Thursday night.

Nii Addy led Evangel with 16 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Kennedy Holland added 11 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals while Jeremiah Williams chipped in 10 points by connecting on three 3 pointers, along with with two rebounds, an assist and three steals. 

The Lions (1-0) will travel on Monday to the Lee-Scott Thanksgiving Classic Tournament and will play Pike Liberal at 1:30 p.m

Macon East Academy 75, Springwood School 61

CECIL -- Maurice Poole scored 31 points to lead the Knights to a 14-point win over the Wildcats on Thursday in the Macon East gym.

The senior guard was 6 of 6 from inside the arc and 4 of 7 on 3 pointers and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, along with four steals, four assists and a pair of rebounds.

Tyler Daniels added 20 points, 15 rebounds, four steals, four blocked shots and a pair of assists.

Jacob Wilson added eight points and four assists, followed by Keegan Roney with five points, eight rebounds and three assists, Brandon Wilkins with five points and three rebounds and Garrison Miller with four points and two steals. 

Macon East Academy (2-0) travels to Auburn on Monday to play in a tournament at Lee-Scott.

Sparta Academy 56, Edgewood Academy 50

EVERGREEN -- Edgewood fought evenly for three quarters, but Sparta Academy was 6 of 6 at the free-throw line in the final minutes to edge the Wildcats 56-50 in the Sparta gym on Thursday.

Austin Champion had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists, Cooper Hall had 13 points and six rebounds, JB Collier had nine points and Brady Whitt had seven points, three steals and three rebounds for the Wildcats. Walker Hall had a team-high six rebounds as well.

Bryson Pate led Sparta with 22 points, followed by Tucker Miller with 14 and Sam Layton with 12. 

Miller was 4 of 4 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, while Pate was 2 of 2.

Edgewood (1-1) returns to the floor on Nov. 29 in Auburn against Lee-Scott Academy.

GIRLS

Prattville Christian 57, Autaugaville 10

AUTAUGAVILLE -- Ella Jane Connell led the Lady Panthers with 20 points, five assists and four steals as the Panthers cruised to a 47-point win over the Eagles in the Autaugaville gym on Friday. Hannah Jones added 12 points and nine rebounds and Avery Rogers scored 10 points for the 5-0 Panthers. Coco Thomas added six points and nine rebounds, LB NeSmith scored five points and Jenna McClendon grabbed four rebounds. 

Thursday’s matchup between St. James and Catholic featured a pair of unbeaten teams but neither St. James coach Katie Barton nor Catholic coach Jill Clark felt like their teams lived up to the standard either had set in the first two weeks of the season.

 St. James 59, Montgomery Catholic 53

Then again, both pointed out, it was still mid-November.

St. James relied on its experience to gain some control in the second half and hang on for a 59-53 win over Catholic in the Knights’ gym on Thursday night.

The Trojans had an early lead before Catholic forged ahead briefly, then fell behind again 27-24 at the half. 

“Honestly, I think we played a pretty poor first half,” Barton said. “I don’t think that we played in rhythm or in sync at all. I think I had some players who got frustrated and we ended up making it through the first half with a three-point lead. I think we made some adjustments at halftime and came out and played a better second half and was able to extend some.”

“I thought we got off to a slow start,” Clark said. “We didn’t seem like we were bringing it. Way too many fouls. We put them on the line 16 times in the first quarter. I didn’t think we were ready to play.”

Catholic, which struggled to hit from the perimeter, used an outside shot to grab a 23-21 lead with three minutes left in the first half, but were outscored 6-1 the remainder of the half. St. James’ top perimeter player, KK Hall, was sitting on the bench in foul trouble and the Knights -- already without center Harper Howell because of illness -- had the same issues with forward Julienne Pharrams and guard Heaven Bailey sidelined with three personal fouls. 

“At halftime, we’re only down three and I don’t think we’re playing that good,” Clark said.

“I thought we just survived it,” Barton said. 

In the second half, the three most experienced players on the court, all for St. James, began to assert themselves on both ends of the court, with Hall filling passing lanes and coming up with steals to score eight of her 17 points in the second half; Danielle Greene taking charge in the paint and scoring 12 of her season-high 16 points in the second half; and Ava Card driving the baseline and scoring 11 of her game-high 19 points in the second half. 

Those three helped St. James (6-0) to a 10-point lead two minutes into the third quarter and when Catholic went on an 11-1 run to tie the game at 37-37 late in the quarter, they went on another run to extend the lead back to 12 points two minutes into the fourth quarter.

“I’m proud of them,” Barton said of her team. “We’re going into the (Thanksgiving) break 6-0. I didn’t think we’d start the year like that. I graduated five seniors and my leading scorers last year were 11 points per game.”

Bailey led Catholic (3-1) with 12 points, followed by Andrea Aiken with 11 and Hannah Smith and Allyse Rudolph with 10 points each. 

“I’ve got a whole new team and we’re still trying to learn each other,” Clark said. “And we’re young. This is only our fourth game together. I feel good about this team and what we’re capable of.”

Trinity 64, LAMP 37

Maddie Smith had 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals to lead the Wildcats to an easy win over the Golden Tigers on Thursday in the Trinity gym.

Emma Kate Smith added 16 points, eight assists, six rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals, while Kaylee Peevy scored six points, took three charges, grabbed three rebounds and came up with a pair of steals.  

Caitlin Russell led LAMP with 16 points.

Trinity (5-1) plays host to BTW Magnet on Fruday, while LAMP (2-3) travels to Beulah on Friday.

Sparta Academy 45, Edgewood Academy 43

EVERGREEN -- Edgewood rallied late but couldn’t overtake Sparta in a 45-43 loss on the road on Thursday.

Lindsey Brown scored 18 points and Avery White added 11 as the Wildcats trailed by six entering the fourth quarter and couldn’t make up the deficit in the Sparta gym. 

Hannah Salter led Sparta with 20 points, followed by Mary Trainham Brock with 10.

Edgewood (1-1) has a week off before returning to action on Nov. 29 at Lee-Scott Academy.

Springwood School 56, Macon East Academy 42

CECIL -- Miya Tatum went 10 for 10 from the floor, but it was one of the few highlights in an otherwise poor shooting night as the Knights dropped a 56-42 loss to Springwood on Thursday in the Macon East gym.

Tatum added 13 steals and three rebounds, while Maddie Ross had 20 points, five steals and four rebounds and Sydnie Phelps had 16 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. 

The Knights were just 1 of 7 from behind the 3-point arc and hit just 9 of 28 free throws.

Macon East (0-2) will travel to Auburn to play in the Lee-Scott Thanksgiving Tournament on Monday and Tuesday.  

North River Christian 43, Meadowview Christian 28

SELMA -- Meadowview Christian scored just four points in the second and third quarters, allowing North River Christian to build up a lead in a 43-28 win over the Trojans on Thursday.

Averi Liles led Meadowview (1-1) with nine points, followed by Kaylee Chancey with six points, three assists and four rebounds and Madison Holt with six points and four steals.