PREP HOOPS: Pike Road boys, PCA girls win Chapman Tipoff Tourney
Montgomery Academy’s Bray Renfroe faces defender DJ Tolliver in Pike Road’s win on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Fresh off a win over Autaugaville in the tournament semifinals, Montgomery Academy was anxious to take another step with its young basketball team and for a half, the Eagles were up to the task of defending Class 6A Pike Road.
The second half was another story as the Patriots forced the inexperienced Eagles into a rash of turnovers and pulled away to a 60-47 victory in the championship game of the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tipoff Classic at Montgomery Academy’s Joe Mooty Court on Wednesday afternoon.
For the better part of a half, Montgomery Academy forced the Patriots to score in its halfcourt offense and Pike Road struggled to keep up, scoring the last basket of the first half on a steal and layup to trim the deficit to 25-22.
That was a sign of things to come as the Patriots converted turnovers into layups and dominated the backboard on both ends of the court in the second half.
“In the half court, we were defending well,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “In the second half, that was the difference in the game. They probably had 15 or so points in transition and another 10-12 off of offensive rebounds. They turned us over a few more times and got some transition baskets. Offensive rebounds really hurt us in the fourth quarter.”
Jayden Cooper had 12 points in the first half and 18 more in the second half, finishing with 30 points to earn most valuable player honors.
“He steps on the floor, he’s going to get 25 or 30,” Pike Road coach Obadiah Threadgill said. “The question is, is he rebounding, is he getting assists, is he getting turnovers or is he being lazy, reaching his hands in there and getting bad fouls?” Threadgill said. “Scoring is not a problem for him. It’s making plays for his teammates.
“But he works really hard. Any time we can get one-on-ones or get him ‘iso’ somewhere, we like our chances. And if he starts to command double teams, then he can kick it to guys for shots and involve his teammates. It’s a work in progress but I’m thankful he’s on our team. I’d hate to play against him.”
But while Cooper was the chief scoring threat -- he had 34 in a tournament opening win over Loachapoka on Monday -- the difference in the game was the defensive pressure in the third quarter that reduced the effectiveness of Montgomery Academy’s leading scorers, DJ Vinson and Skyler Stovall. Stovall was forced to handle the ball, which kept him from penetrating as much and gave the Patriots the ability to concentrate on Vinson, holding both players to a basket each.
“I would say their pressure bothered us in the second half,” Arant said. “That’s kind of why we wanted to play this game against those guys so our young guys could learn through trial by fire.”
Threadgill was pleased with his team’s performance as he continues to develop several football players who are participating in basketball for the Patriots for the first time.
“They only can do what they can do, so trying to get these guys to go through an offense and look crisp is just not what we are yet,” Threadgill said. “But running and jumping is. That was the difference, turning up the defense. These guys are getting in shape and we feel like we can play another quarter or two and that’s the difference between our team and a lot of other teams.”
Cole Caddell and Stovall led Montgomery Academy (2-1) with 17 points each, followed by Vinson with eight. The Eagles travel to Prattville Christian on Monday.
Alijah Hicks and Jordan Holmes each had 10 points for Pike Road. The Patriots (4-3) return to action on Tuesday at home against Sidney Lanier.
Joining Cooper on the all-tournament team were Hicks of Pike Road, Stovall and Vinson of Montgomery Academy, Autaugaville’s Jaden Nixon, Prattville Christian’s Connor Owens, Johnathan Williams of Brew Tech, Jasavion Moore of Loachapoka, Christopher Creighton of Notasulga and Jaivion Griffin of BTW Magnet
Montgomery Academy’s Seth Edwards won the Chapman Foundation’s Character Award.
Prattville Christian 85, Autaugaville 66
Conner Williams has 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead Prattville Christian past Autaugaville in the consolation finals of the tournament.
Cade Segars added 24 points and six assists, connecting on six 3-pointers, while PJ Evans filled the stat sheet with 14 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Brady Roberson had nine points and five rebounds, Collier Connell had nine points and Carson Roberson scored six points to give him 1,005 in his career.
PCA (3-3) will play host to Montgomery Academy on Monday.
The game was close until PCA started connecting on 3-pointers and pulled away in the second half. Autaugaville (4-2) played without head coach Darren Golson and is now 62-5 over the last three seasons, with four of those losses coming in the Chapman Foundation Tournament.
Jaden Nixon led the Eagles with 35 points, followed by Deshawn Hall and Cortez Parker with 10 points each.
Oak Mountain 75, Prattville 54
VESTAVIA HILLS -- Prattville was within six points at the end of the third quarter but Oak Mountain went on a 22-7 run in the final period to pull away from the Lions 75-54 in the 44th annual Sneaky Pete’s Rebel Classic at Vestavia Hills on Wednesday.
Sparkman defeated Vestavia Hills 64-60 to win the tournament.
Kamran DeRamus led the Lions with 21 points, hitting four 3-pointers, along with seven rebounds, while Ty Bryant and Kam Shanks each scored eight points.
Prattville (3-5) returns to action next Thursday at Wetumpka.
Vestavia Hills 102, Prattville 48
VESTAVIA HILLS -- The host Rebels jumped on the Lions for a 30-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and went on a 27-7 run to close out the game in the 44th annual Sneaky Pete’s Rebel Classic on Tuesday afternoon.
Vestavia Hills advanced to Wednesday’s championship game with the win, while Prattville was scheduled to play Oak Mountain in the consolation finals.
Zion Small led Prattville (3-4) with 15 points and five rebounds, followed by Kam Shanks with 14.
Brewbaker Tech’s Kennedi McGhee loses the handle of the basketball as PCA’s Coco Thomas defends in the Chapman Tipoff Tourney final at Montgomery Academy on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
Girls
Pike Road wins tourney
It didn’t look like a championship game, not if you were looking for fast-paced offense and plenty of scoring.
“In the first half, I just felt like it was a heavyweight bout,” Prattville Christian coach Jason Roberson said. “We’re throwing punches, they’re throwing punches. It looks kind of ugly, it looks kind of sloppy but it’s just two really good teams going at each other that really want to win. Brew Tech is a great team and it was not just a great team but a great tournament.”
In the end, Prattville Christian delivered the knockout blow as CoCo Thomas scored all 12 of her team’s points in the fourth quarter to help the defending two-time state champions subdue the Rams 43-33 in the championship game of the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tipoff Classic at Montgomery Academy’s Joe Mooty Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Thomas put on a spectacular show in the paint with 27 points, 12 rebounds and five steals to give tournament officials an easy choice for most valuable player honors. Much of the attention was focused early on the Panthers’ leading scorer, Hannah Jones, but with Jones struggling to find any rhythm against the Rams’ defense, it was fellow forward Thomas that proved nearly unstoppable in her personal war with Brew Tech forward Kennedi McGhee.
“It just pushes us to work harder,” Thomas said. “Some teams, because we’re taller, we can get the rebound but when you play really good teams you’ve got to be physical. I feel like we played hard, but it was definitely a challenge.”
The Rams fought back with the last six points of the first half to tie the game at 14-14, but PCA got a pair of timely 3-pointers in the third quarter, one from Kayden Carr and the other from Avery Rogers, and then Thomas went to work, scoring seven points in the third quarter and 12 in the fourth to put away the Rams.
“I encourage my teammates to do better,” Thomas said, “but other people have to step up when others aren’t.”
The 3-pointers helped PCA extend the lead to nine points in the third quarter.
“In the first half, we were playing really hard on defense but our offense wasn’t clicking,” Roberson said. “We had some players that needed to be more aggressive.”
That wasn’t a question with Thomas, who took charge as Jones managed just a basket in the first half (and one more in the second) and the outside game struggled to find any rhythm against the Brew Tech defense.
“At halftime, I was saying we need a few more to step up to her level,” Roberson said. “She even played better in the second half than the first half, which is hard to believe. Coco’s a winner and in that situation she was going to do whatever it took to help us win.”
Roberson, who often talks about his “twin towers” (Thomas and Jones), added Jenna McClendon to the lineup at times to give the Panthers a trio of towers that proved effective at times on defense.
“We’re working on that slowly but surely,” Roberson said. “There are some situations in games where we can use all three of them at one time.”
PCA (6-1) will play host to Montgomery Academy on Monday. Carr followed Thomas in scoring with six points, six rebounds and four assists, Jones had five points and 11 rebounds and Rogers added five points and six assists.
McGhee led Brew Tech (6-3) with 12 points, followed by Taliah July with 10 points and Jillian Baine with eight.
Joining Thomas on the all-tournament team were Jones, McGhee and Erin Martin of Brew Tech, Dallas Sanders of Marbury, Catholic’s Hannah Smith, Jasmyn Thomas of Loachapoka, Aniya Gilchrist of Stanhope Elmore, Tomeria Blythe of Pike Road and Montgomery Academy’s Madison Yi.
Catholic’s Andy Aiken won the Chapman Foundation’s Character Award.
Catholic 49, Loachapoka 40
Allyse Rudolph and Hannah Smith combined for 14 points in the first quarter as the Knights jumped out to a quick lead, extended it to 16 points in the second half and cruised to a 49-40 win over Loachapoka in the consolation finals of the tournament.
Smith finished with 17 points and Rudolph added 15, with all 32 points coming in the first three quarters before the reserves closed out the game. Heaven Bailey added 10 for Catholic (6-2).
Jasmyn Thomas hit seven 3-pointers to finish with 21 points for the Indians, followed by Taylah Murph with 10.
Pike Road 36, Montgomery Academy 28
The Patriots snapped a two-game losing streak with a 36-28 win over the Eagles in the seventh-place game of the tournament on Wednesday.
KJ Fencher and Amaya Baker each had eight points to lead Pike Road (3-4), which plays host to Sidney Lanier on Tuesday.
Southland Academy 49, Lakeside School 32
DOUGLAS, Ga. -- Chloe Helms led Lakeside with 10 points and five steals as Southland Academy defeated the Chiefs 49-32 on Tuesday in a tournament at Terrell Academy.
Eliza Eriksen added six points and seven rebounds and Jayden Green had six points and five rebounds for the Chiefs (1-1).
COACH LARRY CHAPMAN FOUNDATION TIPOFF CLASSIC
At Montgomery Academy
BOYS
MONDAY’S RESULTS
Pike Road 62, Loachapoka 41
Autaugaville 64, Brew Tech 58
Prattville Christian 52, BTW Magnet 40
Montgomery Academy 68, Notasulga 37
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
Montgomery Academy 46, Autaugaville 60 (OT)
Brew Tech 67, Notasulga 37
Pike Road 56, Prattville Christian 48
Loachapoka 57, BTW Magnet 40
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Seventh place, Notasulga 68, BTW Magnet 50
Fifth place, Brew Tech 55, Loachapoka 44
Consolation, Prattville Christian 85, Autaugaville 66
Championship, Pike Road 60, Montgomery Academy 47
GIRLS
MONDAY’S RESULTS
Catholic 57, Pike Road 37
Brew Tech 57, Marbury 55
Prattville Christian 78, Stanhope Elmore 12
Loachapoka 43, Montgomery Academy 23
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
Prattville Christian 66, Catholic 64
Stanhope Elmore 34, Pike Road 31
Brew Tech 38, Loachapoka 30
Marbury 54, Montgomery Academy 22
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Seventh place, Pike Road 36, Montgomery Academy 28
Fifth place, Marbury 60, Stanhope Elmore 36
Consolation, Catholic 49, Loachapoka 40
Championship, Prattville Christian 43, Brew Tech 33