PREP HOOPS: PCA boys top St. James; Lee-Scott beats Valiant Cross in AISA tourney

St. James guard Evan Richardson looks to drive past PCA’s Justin Chapman in action Thursday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

At halftime of Thursday’s game between St. James and Prattville Christian Academy, neither team had reached 20 points. As the game continued for the next four minutes, with one team holding a 20-18 lead, PCA coach Jason Roberson said what everyone was thinking.  

“I told the ref this might be the two worst offensive teams in the state right now,” Roberson jokingly said. “I think both teams can score.”

 PCA got a huge 3-pointer from Collier Connell in the final three minutes to hold off the Trojans 38-35 in a game where defenses stole the spotlight.

“Both teams were playing a defensive game plan, both teams had good game plans that worked on defense, both teams were competing on defense, so points and buckets were hard to come by,” Roberson said. “I loved the game because that’s not really been who we’ve been the whole year, fighting and competing in low-scoring, close games. For us to get that chance before we start the playoffs and find a way to win in that situation, that was great for our team.”

It wasn’t so great for St. James coach Nigel Card, who has watched his team repeatedly play an opponent close, only to lose in the final moments.

“The boys have been trying to find an identity all year long, something that works, something that can help them score better but it’s been difficult,” Card said. “The last several games, the team has put themselves in a position to have a chance to win. They’ve competed hard. Early in the season, we were losing this kind of game by 20 or more points. We’ve closed the gap. We’ve put ourselves in a position to win, so that’s encouraging.”

PCA led 7-0 and 18-11 but each time the Trojans would rally. The last time, with PCA nursing a 36-34 lead in the final minute, the Trojans would get three shots off, but none found their mark.

Connell led PCA with 12 points, followed by Cade Segars with 10 and PJ Evans and Brady Roberson with eight points each. The Panthers (15-14) travel to Camden to play Dallas County on Monday at 5 p.m. in the first round of the 4A Area 5 tournament at Wilcox Central.

“We definitely need to get a little more crisp on our plays, but St. James is so good defensively,” Roberson said. “They stay in every game. They’re just so well coached. They don’t give you anything easy. I loved our defense, I loved our intensity and our competitiveness the last two games after dropping the ball on Monday. I think we’re back, at least ready to compete.” 

Clint Houser led St. James with 17 points, followed by Donald Evans with 12. The Trojans (1-13) face Montgomery Academy on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament at Montgomery Academy. 

St. James girls 46, PCA 40

There were times, St. James coach Katie Barton insisted, when the Trojans’ 46-40 win over Prattville Christian on Thursday night felt more like a loss.

The Trojans struggled to put away the defending 4A state champions, which isn’t that surprising, but Barton didn’t think her team played the way it needs to play heading into the postseason. 

“I think I saw flashes of us doing good stuff,” she said. “There are some adjustments that I’ve got to definitely make on offense when coaches are scheming a little differently. (PCA) coach Jason (Roberson) threw a few different things at us.

“I thought that we established a decent lead in the second half and then in the fourth quarter we probably panicked a little bit. We need to look at taking care of the ball a little bit better in the fourth quarter. 

It was that fourth quarter letup that had Barton feeling a little like a defeated coach. The Trojans led by 12 points with a chance to add to the lead when PCA’s trapping defense forced St. James into several miscues. PCA converted a turnover into a Baylee Rogers’ 3-pointer, another turnover into a Kayden Carr layup and a third turnover into an opportunity to cut the decifit to three points in the final minute.

“We got it to 28-28 at the beginning of the third quarter and they pushed back out, made a little run on us,” Roberson said. “We had a choice. Are we going to just play the way we play or are we going to do something different and get after it. We’re going to try to get back in the game or they’re going to beat the trap and beat us by 20. They said we want to go for it. So I was really proud of their effort and their flying around at the end of the game.”

The Panthers played their seventh game since losing star forward Jenna McClendon to a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 15 and suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season after falling to defending 3A state champion Trinity on Tuesday.

“These two games, especially without Jenna, are what we needed,” Roberson said. “Because if we want to get back to the Final Four and have a chance to win, we’ve got to beat a team like that. Those are Final Four teams. I know one of them won’t go (because they’ll meet in the regional final) and that’s a shame but Trinity and St. James are Final Four-caliber teams. I told our ladies that, even without Jenna, we’re not this far away. We just need to improve this much over the next month and we’ll give ourselves a chance.”

PCA struggled for points against the St. James’ defense, as it did on Tuesday against Trinity. Kayden Carr had 19 points and five rebounds, but 15 of those points came in the first half on five 3-pointers. The only other 3-pointer before Baylee Rogers’ shot late in the fourth quarter came in the second quarter from Ally Blankinchip, who finished with seven points and four rebounds.  

“They don’t have as dominant an inside-out game as they did, but PCA girls are tough,” Barton said. “They’re going to play hard. A lot of times, not having a player in a game isn’t going to affect them the way it might some other teams.

“They’re already a heavy 3-point shooting team. Without Jenna, they become more so. You have to play to stop the 3-point shot.”

Avery Rogers, in a rare off-night, finished without a 3-pointer and had just seven points, six assists and four rebounds, but the lone PCA senior set two school records in the process, becoming the school’s all-time career leader in assists and steals. Rogers entered the game tied with Ella Jane Connell, who finished with 614 assists in 2022. Rogers now has 620 assists and 428 steals, one more than CoCo Thomas finished with in 2023.

PCA (22-7) returns home to play BTW Magnet in the opening round of the 4A Area 5 tournament on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the PCA gym.

For St. James, Ava Card had 21 points, climbing past Montgomery Academy’s Chloe Johnson (2,161 points in 2016-2022) on the career scoring list among River Region basketball players with 2,169 points. 

Morgan Lilly added nine points, followed by Natalie Barton with eight.

St. James (23-5) will remain home to play Alabama Christian Academy in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the St. James’ gym.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Trinity 59, BTW Magnet 7

Emory Causey led the Wildcats with 16 points and eight rebounds as they closed out the regular season with a 59-7 win over BTW Magnet on Thursday.

Ellie Causey added 10 points, along with six steals and four rebounds, followed by Anna Moore and Lilly Smith with eight points each.

Trinity (21-5) will face Montgomery Academy in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament at St. James on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.  

St. James 57, Pike Road 46

Natalie Barton had 18 points, five rebounds and four steals to lead the Trojans to a 57-46 win over Pike Road in the St. James gym on Wednesday.

Ava Card added 17 points, four rebounds and four assists, followed by Kaitlin Mitchell with 17 points and seven rebounds and Morgan Lilly with four points and six assists.

KJ Fencher and Jazz Johnson each had 14 points to lead the Patriots, followed by Audrey Blaine with 13 points and seven rebounds.

The Patriots (22-5) will face Russell County in the opening round of the 6A Area 4 tournament at Park Crossing on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Lee-Scott Academy 60, Valiant Cross Academy 57

AUBURN -- Deshawn Hall had 19 points, 15 rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals, but the Warriors fell in the opening round of the AISA Class AAA Region 1 tournament at Lee-Scott Academy on Wednesday afternoon.

Valiant Cross Academy (20-5) will play Springwood School on Friday afternoon in the regional tournament at Macon East.