PREP HOOPS: Catholic sweeps MA; Hooper Academy drops Crenshaw

Hannah Smith drives past defenders for a bucket in Catholic’s win over Montgomery Academy on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Catholic got some early points from Hannah Smith and some late assists and baskets by Heaven Bailey to pull away from Montgomery Academy 56-38 on Tuesday at Joe Mooty Court.

The Eagles scored a pair of baskets early in the third quarter and pulled within four points, but a quick timeout by Catholic coach Jill Clark seemed to restore order as the Knights quickly expanded the lead back to double digits.

“Our defense lacked a little bit of intensity there,” Clark said. “Our offense was just standing around. We weren’t really moving, we were waiting for someone else to do something. I think we just got flat and needed somebody to pick us back up.”

The Knights jumped out to a commanding lead as the Eagles struggled from the field, but Smith picked up her third personal foul with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter and spent the rest of the first half of the bench. 

Montgomery Academy trailed by 15 points when Smith went to the bench and finally hit their first field goal with 7:21 left in the first half on an Olivia Smith basket to make it 20-5. The Eagles would chip away at the lead, cutting it to six points before Bailey hit a 27-foot shot at the buzzer for a 30-19 halftime lead.

After MA cut the lead to four points and forced a Catholic timeout, Bailey responded with five points to put the Knights up 41-30 at the end of the quarter.  

Smith, playing her first game in more than a week, scored 11 points in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 20. Bailey, hampered by a hip pointer, added 13.

“She’s limited in what she’s able to do and how long she can do it,” Clark said of Bailey. “And Hannah’s been sick and just got back today.”

Caroline Waller led Montgomery Academy with 13 points. 

Catholic (4-9) travels to Autaugaville on Thursday and Prattville Christian Academy on Friday. Montgomery Academy (4-9) opens 3A Area 6 play at Trinity on Friday. 

Catholic boys hold off MA

Catholic coach Mike Curry admitted it didn’t look good when his team went into a four-minute overtime period with its two best offensive players, Jayden Phifer and Courtney Williams, on the bench with five personal fouls.

“I told the other guys this is an opportunity,” Curry said. “You want to play? You’ve got to make a play. I thought Rickie (Williams) stepped up, Jo P (Jo Pierce) stepped up, Caleb (McCreary) stepped up, JJ (Williams). I thought we had contributions from a lot of people and some of that stuff didn’t show up in the stat sheet.”

Catholic got an early basket in overtime from Rickie Williams and all five of JJ Williams’ points in the four-minute period while holding Montgomery Academy without a field goal to hold off the Eagles 53-49 at Joe Mooty Court on Tuesday night.

Catholic (5-3) won its third consecutive game, while Montgomery Academy (12-6) lost for the third time in six games.

The two teams met two weeks ago and the Eagles rolled to a 74-55 win, but a different Catholic team showed up on Tuesday, holding the Eagles to 20 percent from the field (12 of 60) and from the 3-point line (5 of 25), making it difficult for Montgomery Academy shooters to find an open look while rolling up a 25-12 lead at the half. 

“That’s something we’ve been struggling with a little bit lately, probably the last two weeks,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “But they’re always tough defensively. They’ve got a lot of really good athletes who make it hard on you to beat them one-on-one, so you’ve got to run good stuff, you’ve got to be solid with what you do and you’ve got to set good screens and make some good shots. We didn’t really do any of that in the first quarter.”

In the third quarter, Montgomery Academy went on a 17-5 run to pull back into the game, finally taking the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Skyler Stovall for a 32-30 lead.

“I thought we played better defensively,” Arant said. “We started getting some stops and some turnovers, which led us to some transition baskets and easier looks.”

Meanwhile, the fouls were piling up on Catholic’s players as the game tightened up. 

“We were a little challenged offensively,” Curry said. “Part of it is some stuff they did in that 1-2-2 (zone). We definitely could do a better job than we did, but it’s something that gave us problems both times, this time and the last time we played them.”

The Knights pulled even with 11.5 seconds remaining in regulation on a pair of Courtney Williams’ free throws. Stovall drove toward the basket in the final seconds but had his shot blocked. DJ Vinson grabbed the loose ball but couldn’t get off a shot before the horn.

“That was a tough no-call down here on Skyler,” Arant said.”I thought it could have gone either way, but late in the game you don’t really get those calls. We’ve been talking a lot about being a tougher team and not letting that hold us back.”

Montgomery Academy never found a good look in overtime as all six points came on 10 free-throw attempts by Stovall. Catholic didn’t make but 4 of 10 attempts from the line in overtime, but it was enough with the early basket by Rickie Williams and the two field goals by JJ Williams. 

Stovall finished with 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, followed by Vinson with 13 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. Cole Caddell added six points and six rebounds and Seth Edwards had nine rebounds as the Eagles open 3A Area 6 play on Friday at Trinity.

Rickie Williams led Catholic with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, followed by Phifer with 13 points and three steals and Pierce with nine points and 10 rebounds as the Knights travel to Autaugaville on Thursday and Prattville Christian Academy on Friday. 

BOYS BASKETBALL

Hooper Academy 65, Crenshaw Christian 35

HOPE HULL -- Nolan Cole scored eight of his 10 points in the first quarter to help the Colts bolt out to a 25-8 lead on the way to a 30-point victory over Crenshaw Christian at Darrell Self Gym on Tuesday night.

It was the eighth consecutive win for Hooper (9-3), which goes on the road to Macon East on Thursday and Crenshaw Christian on Friday.

Lucas Spellman led Hooper with 18 points, followed by Cole with 10, Luke Mosley with eight and Slade Russell and Jeremy Griggs with seven points each.

Lowndes Academy 44, Sparta Academy 30

LOWNDESBORO -- Clayton Hussey had a triple double on Tuesday, scoring 25 points, pulling down 14 rebounds, grabbing 11 steals, dishing out six assists and blocking a shot in a 44-30 win over Sparta Academy on Tuesday night in the Lowndes gym.

The Rebels won their eighth consecutive game on Tuesday, but it was a tightly contested battle for much of the first three quarters as Sparta concentrated on trying to keep Hussey from going to the basket. That resulted in 30 free throws for Hussey in a physical battle for both teams.  

Zach Azar added nine points, five rebounds and three blocked shots for the Rebels, followed by Andrew Myers with five points, a rebound and a steal, Pierson Hill with four points and three rebounds and Watters Box with one points, a pair of rebounds and a steal.
Lowndes (10-3) will play host to Chambers Academy on Friday.