PREP HOOPS: PCA, TPS girls reach CCC finals; Catholic, TPS advance in boys; ACA boys win
PCA’s Jenna McClendon works against Catholic’s Allyse Rudolph in the Lady Panthers’ win in the Capital City Conference tourney on Monday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Prattville Christian and Catholic traded baskets for much of the first half, with the Panthers’ inside duo of Hannah Jones and CoCo Thomas giving the two-time defending state champions a little edge as they went into the locker room with a seven-point lead.
Despite the lead, Prattville Christian coach Jason Roberson didn’t feel like his team was playing with the intensity it needed to have on the defensive end of the court.
“At halftime, we just said that we were executing what we want to do offensively, but we’re not executing on defense,” Roberson said. “That’s not taking anything away from Catholic. Catholic has a great team and they’re well coached. They can put the ball in the basket. But we were just not moving to our spots where we were supposed to be.
“So we just challenged them. Let’s not play on one end of the floor, let’s execute on defense. And we came out and executed about as well as we could defensively in the second half.”
Prattville Christian held Catholic to one field goal in the third quarter and one in the fourth, outscoring the Knights 22-4 in the third quarter to cruise to a 70-34 win in the semifinals of the 28th annual Jack Schweers Capital City Classic at Trinity on Monday afternoon.
Prattville Christian (13-1) will play Trinity for the tournament championship on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Trinity’s Captain Jack Court. The Wildcats handed the Panthers their only loss of the season, 45-39, in the season opener on Nov. 8. Catholic (12-5) will play Montgomery Academy for third place in the tournament on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
For Prattville Christian, the road to the tournament finals was a challenging one, featuring a hard-fought win over 5A Pleasant Grove in the opening round on Saturday before taking on the Knights on Monday.
“It was probably nice for us to have a day off between the first and second round,” Roberson said. “We were a little beat up. Pleasant Grove is tough and physical and gets after you. We knew Catholic would be tough. We saw the bracket. Hopefully, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. (Tuesday) will be another one of those games. There are a lot of teams that could beat us, but they’ve done it.”
Catholic also faced a challenging game in the opening round, putting together one of its best games of the season in beating St. James 54-49 on Saturday. Catholic coach Jill Clark said her team didn’t look the same on Monday.
“I don’t know if that game took it out of us mentally, emotionally or physically,” Clark said. “It looked to me as if (PCA) was having a pretty good shooting day. That didn’t help. I just didn’t think we had a lot of energy today. It seemed like we were flat. And a lot of it had to do with them. They’re very good. But I just didn’t feel like we brought our best today.”
The Knights, at least defensively, were challenged by a relentless PCA attack that featured Jones, Thomas and Jenna McClendon in the paint and Kayden Carr, Avery Rogers and Ally Blankinchip on the perimeter. Carr hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, Rogers added a couple in the third quarter and Blankinchip hit one in each of the final three periods as the Panthers put together a barrage of shots from all over the court.
Jones finished with 18 points (including a 3-pointer of her own in the third quarter), followed by Rogers with 16, Thomas with 10 and Carr and Blankinchip with nine points each.
Leona Sanford led Catholic with nine points, followed by Hannah Smith with eight.
Trinity 59, Montgomery Academy 12
Jayden Mitchell had 26 points, six rebounds and six steals to lead the Wildcats to an easy 59-12 win over the Eagles in the semifinals of the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic at Captain Jack Court on Monday afternoon.
Trinity (13-1) will play Prattville Christian for the tournament championship on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Montgomery Academy (1-10) will play Catholic for third place at 1 p.m.
Mya Moskowitz added 11 points, four rebounds and three steals in the win over Montgomery Academy, followed by Emma Kate Smith and Maddie Smith with eight points each.
St. James 53, Pleasant Grove 46
In the best game of the second-day action, the Trojans scored the last seven points of the game to break a 46-46 tie and defeat the Spartans 53-46 in the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Monday.
St. James (10-4) will play LAMP on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. for fifth place in the tournament, while Pleasant Grove (11-3) will play Montevallo at 11:30 a.m. for seventh place.
Katie Irving took a pass for an easy basket that gave the Trojans a 50-46 lead with 52 seconds remaining, then Katie Brightwell sank 3 of 4 free throws on the next two possessions to put the game out of reach. Pleasant Grove, meanwhile, missed four 3-point attempts by four different players on the Spartans’ final four possessions.
Ava Card led the Trojans with 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, followed by KK Hall with 10 points and Natalie Barton with nine points and six rebounds. Brightwell scored all five of her points at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
The Trojans’ strong finished overshadowed the performance of Tamya Smith, who scored 11 of her 26 points in the third quarter to put the Spartans briefly in front.
LAMP 45, Montevallo 23
Serenity Griffin recorded a triple-double with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 11 steals to lead LAMP to a 45-23 win over Montevallo in the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Monday afternoon.
LAMP (9-7) will play St. James for fifth place on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. The two teams just met a little more than a week ago, with St. James winning 66-27. Montevallo (7-8) will play Pleasant Grove for seventh place on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.
LAMP snapped a three-game losing streak with strong play on both ends of the court, allowing just two points in the first quarter and eight in the first half.
Arianna Cannida added 11 points and seven steals for the Golden Tigers.
Glenwood School 54, Lakeside 51
EUFAULA -- Chloe Helms led Lakeside with 30 points and five steals in a hard-fought loss to the Gators on Monday night.
Eliza Eriksen added 11 points for the Chiefs, with Addy Helms scoring six.
BOYS
Trinity 61, BTW Magnet 42
Jackson Taylor scored 17 points and Cal Bennett added 10 as the Wildcats pulled away in the second half for a 61-42 win over BTW Magnet in the semifinals of the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Monday afternoon at Captain Jack Court.
Trinity (10-3) will play Catholic for the tournament championship on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. BTW Magnet will play Wetumpka for third place at 1 p.m.
Michael Reese led BTW Magnet with 12 points, followed by Bryce Brown with 11.
Catholic 73, Wetumpka 54
LJ Green had 23 points, four rebounds, five steals, four assists and a pair of blocked shots to lead the Knights past Wetumpka 73-54 in the semifinals of the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Monday afternoon at Captain Jack Court.
Catholic (5-3) will face Trinity for the tournament championship on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Wetumpka (9-3) will play BTW Magnet for third place at 1 p.m.
Green had help from Josh Palmer, who finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots, followed by Jayden Phifer with 17 points and three rebounds and Damien Rankins with seven points and eight rebounds.
Montgomery Academy 50, Prattville Christian 46
Skyler Stovall had a game high 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists to help the Eagles hold off Prattville Christian down the stretch in a 50-46 win at the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Monday afternoon in the Trinity gym.
Montgomery Academy (6-5) will play LAMP for fifth place on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. The Eagles defeated LAMP 72-45 in their last meeting on Dec. 6. Prattville Christian (5-8) will play Beauregard for seventh place on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.
Seth Edwards added eight points, six rebounds and two blocked shots for Montgomery Academy, followed by DJ Vinson with seven points 10 rebounds, three assists and a block and Cole Caddell with seven points and four assists.
LAMP 54, Beauregard 37
Jezreel Fishoe scored all 12 of his points in the second half to help LAMP hold off Beauregard 54-37 in the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Monday afternoon and snap a five-game losing streak.
LAMP (3-9) will play Montgomery Academy for fifth place in the tournament on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., while Beauregard will play Prattville Christian for seventh place at 11:30 a.m.
The Golden Tigers held a slim four-point lead at the half before Smith Carter scored all of his points in the third quarter on three 3-pointers that extended LAMP’s lead to 16 points. Ethan Russell also had nine points for LAMP, followed by Ezekiel Griffin and Mathais Gardine with eight points each.
Corday Stinson led Beauregard with 12 points, followed by Aundrae Vann with 10.
Alabama Christian 60, Thorsby 41
THORSBY -- Mac Moorer had 20 points, five rebounds and two assists to lead the Eagles to a 60-41 rout of the Rebels in the Thorsby gym on Monday night.
Moorer hit a pair of 3-pointers as part of a 22-point outburst by the Eagles in the second quarter, then hit two more in the third period to help ACA extend a 33-21 halftime lead.
Christian Snipes added 14 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Eagles, scoring eight of his points in the second quarter as ACA turned an 11-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter into a comfortable lead at the half.
Jayden Jones had eight points for ACA, followed by Darius Gardner with seven points, five rebounds and two assists. Tyree Saadiq had eight rebounds and five assists for the Eagles (5-5).
Christie Davenport led Thorsby with 13 points.
Autauga Academy 55, Morgan Academy 41
PRATTVILLE -- Damien Dickerson poured in 27 points to help the Generals defeat Morgan Academy 55-41 in the Autauga Academy gym on Monday night.
Autauga Academy (3-4) also got 10 points from Cameron Wright and eight from Evan Peak.
28TH ANNUAL JACK SCHWEERS CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC (at Trinity)
GIRLS
Saturday’s results
Trinity 57, LAMP 17
Montgomery Academy 52, Montevallo 26
Prattville Christian 62, Pleasant Grove 49
Catholic 54, St. James 49
Monday’s results
Trinity 59, Montgomery Academy 12
Prattville Christian 70, Catholic 34
LAMP 45. Montevallo 23
St. James 53, Pleasant Grove 46
Tuesday’s schedule
Seventh place -- Montevallo vs. Pleasant Grove, seventh place, 11:30 a.m.
Third place -- Montgomery Academy vs. Catholic, third place, 1 p.m.
Fifth place -- LAMP vs. St. James, 2:30 p.m.
Championship -- Trinity vs. Prattville Christian, championship, 4 p.m.
BOYS
Saturday’s results
BTW Magnet 55, Beauregard 43
Trinity 60, LAMP 49
Wetumpka 66, Montgomery Academy 62
Catholic 63, Prattville Christian 52
Monday’s results
Trinity 61, BTW Magnet 42
Catholic 73, Wetumpka 54
LAMP 54, Beauregard 37
Montgomery Academy 50, Prattville Christian 46
Tuesday’s schedule
Seventh place -- Beauregard vs. Prattville Christian, 11:30 a.m.
Third place -- BTW Magnet vs. Wetumpka, third place, 1 p.m.
Fifth place -- LAMP vs. Montgomery Academy, fifth place, 2:30 p.m.
Championship -- Trinity vs. Catholic, championship, 5:30 p.m.