PREP HOOPS: STJ, Trinity split games; Brew Tech tops PCA
St. James’ Matthew Middleton looks for an escape against the Trinity Wildcats in Friday’s game at Captain Jack Court. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
For a half, Trinity and St. James battled evenly, trading baskets before the Trojans sank the final two shots of the first half for a four-point lead.
When the Trojans’ K.J. Jackson picked up his third personal foul in the third quarter and went to the bench, Trinity coach Matt Arrighi figured it was time for his team to make a move.
Instead, it was the Trojans who pulled away, taking a 15-point lead into the final quarter and pulling away for a 56-41 victory at Trinity’s Captain Jack Court on Friday night.
For the second time this week, St. James relied on the inside-out combination of power forward K.J. Jackson and shooting guard Bradley Thomas to neutralize the opposing defense and propel the Trojans to victory.
“They’re really a tough matchup for us because they’re big in the post and they’ve got a really good guard,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “Any time you’ve got a good frontcourt and backcourt combination, it’s tough. So we kind of have to put ourselves in some difficult situations to guard the post.”
Those moves worked for a half, but in the third quarter the Wildcats couldn’t keep pace with the Trojans as Barr Armistead replaced Jackson to help the Trojans maintain the same strategy.
“We just kind of fell apart with turnovers,” Arrighi said. “They went on a little run, but we were still within five or six points. K.J. picked up his third foul and went out of the game and we liked where we were, but with him out of the game they went on a 10-0 run and it was too much for us to recover from.
“We imploded with turnovers while he was out and that’s what allowed them to go. You can’t do that. We didn’t hold our composure very well when it started heading the wrong direction.”
Armistead scored four points in the second quarter when Jackson went to the bench with his second personal foul and two in the third quarter when Jackson picked up his third, but was invaluable in helping the Trojans maintain a physical advantage in the paint.
“Barr Armistead came in and gave us some really good minutes, scoring inside and some offensive rebounds,” St. James coach Nigel Card said. “He had a big night tonight, so that was huge.”
Arrighi continued shuffling players in and out of his lineup, but couldn’t find a combination that could pull the Wildcats back into the contest.
“We’re playing a lot of people because we’re trying to figure out who’s going to step up and earn the playing time,” he said. “And the football guys are only two and a half, three weeks into playing with us so we’re still getting them acclimated. It’s a brand new team that we’re trying to do a lot of new things with that we didn’t do with last year’s team. Each game is a learning experience.”
Card was uncertain what to expect from his team this season after watching a season opening win at Prattville Christian Academy on Tuesday, but has a better idea after seeing it twice in one week.
“I made a conscious effort to do something I haven’t done the whole time I’ve been here,” Card said. “I didn’t do anything with them over the summer. I allowed them to do their football stuff, go to camps or just relax. It helped me, it helped them. I picked up what I was doing last year, some of the same stuff. I didn’t change much of my offense other than to make a conscious effort to make sure we get the ball inside because we’ve got so much strength and ability there.”
Trinity (4-2) got 15 points from Thomas Bennett and eight from Mac Stewart. The Wildcats remain home to play Westminster-Oak Mountain on Monday and Highland Home on Tuesday.
Beard led the Trojans (2-0) with 15 points, followed by Thomas with 12 and Jackson and Armistead with 10 point each. St. James travels to Pike Road on Monday
Trinity girls dominate STJ
For the second straight game this week, St. James faced a veteran team with plenty of returning talent.
For the second straight game, the Trojans faced intense defensive pressure on its inexperienced guards.
For the second straight game, a flurry of turnovers settled the outcome before halftime.
Trinity got 22 points from Emma Kate Smith, including 10 in the second quarter, to pull away for a comfortable 66-38 win over the Trojans at Trinity’s Captain Jack Court on Friday night.
Trinity coach Blake Smith saw what Prattville Christian Academy did in Tuesday’s 65-29 win over the Trojans and played a similar style on Friday night.
“That’s the way we’re going to play,” Smith said. “You never know if you can do it like someone else can do it or if they do it like you. That was a game plan coming in, to see if they could handle it, but there’s a hesitancy for us with that because we know KK (Hall) can score and obviously Ava Card can score and we worried about them getting free in our press.”
Hall had 15 points and Card had nine, but 14 of those 24 points came in the second half, long after the issue was settled.
“We’ve just got to get better,” St. James coach Katie Barton said. “We’ve got to learn to handle pressure. We’ve got to get more in an offensive sync. I’ve got to work on our press breaker. I’ve got girls that, right now, aren’t understanding their roles and where I need them to be. This exposes us and it helps us down the road.”
Trinity jumped out to a 7-0 lead before St. James scored, but the Trojans managed just five field goals in the first half, falling behind 19-5 in the first quarter and 39-15 at the half.
The Trojans (6-2) did a little better in the second half, but had trouble keeping pace with the Wildcats, who got 16 points from Maddie Smith, 13 from Mary Alice Sasser and 11 from Mya Moskowitz. Emma Kate Smith, meanwhile, had 10 points in the second half as she continued to score every time St. James showed any offensive life.
“Emma Kate has been playing really well for us,” Smith said. “With the addition of Mya, we get to run things through different people and our scoring is more balanced. Emma Kate has had, not in terms of scoring, but one of her better years so far. She’s been aggressive, led us in assists and at times led us in rebounding.”
Trinity (6-1) plays host to Westminster-Oak Mountain on Monday and Highland Home on Tuesday, while St. James travels to Pike Road on Monday.
GIRLS
LAMP 47, Reeltown 29
Arianna Cannida led all scorers with 14 points as the Golden Tigers cruised past the Rebels 47-29 in the LAMP gym on Friday night.
Caitlin Russell added 11 points and three steals, followed by Mackenzie Lewis with nine points, three assists and four steals. Serenity Griffin had 11 rebounds for the Lady Tigers.
Kimble led Reeltown with 10 points.
LAMP (5-3) travels to Tallassee to play the Tigers on Tuesday night.
Prattville Christian 57, Brew Tech 27
The “Twin Towers” dominated from start to finish as Hannah Jones had 25 points and 17 rebounds and CoCo Thomas added 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead the unbeaten Panthers to an easy 30-point win over the Rams in the Brew Tech gym on Friday night.
Ella Jane Connell added six rebounds and five assists for PCA, Avery Rogers scored four points and Kayden Carr had five steals.
PCA (11-0) travels to Montevallo on Monday.
BOYS
Reeltown 44, LAMP 43
Ezekiel Griffin led LAMP with 12 points and Landon Townsend had 10 points but the Golden Tigers came up just short on Friday night in the LAMP gym.
LAMP (1-9) will travel to Tallassee to play the Tigers on Tuesday.
Brew Tech 68, Prattville Christian 55
Conner Williams and Carson Roberson combined for 41 of the Panthers’ 55 points, but Prattville Christian couldn’t come up with enough defensive stops in a 68-55 loss to the Rams in the Brew Tech gym on Friday night.
Williams had 21 points and seven rebounds and Roberson added 20 points and five rebounds for PCA (4-4), who travels to Montevallo on Monday.
Cade Segars added five points and four assists, followed by Coleman Hunter with four points and Brady Roberson with three points. Brady Hughes grabbed four rebounds.
In the junior varsity game, Collin Ross had 14 points and nine rebounds, but PCA (2-2) fell to the Rams 49-17.