PREP HOOPS: Trinity boys top MA; Lady Eagles return the favor
Montgomery Academy’s James Snead defends against Trinity’s Cal Bennett in action at Trinity on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Trinity took the suspense out of the game early, but couldn’t put Montgomery Academy away until a flurry of fourth-quarter 3’s finished off the Eagles 57-42 in the area opener for both teams on Friday night in the Trinity gym.
Trinity jumped out to an early lead, but the Eagles fought back to within six points at the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats then scored the first four points of the second quarter to take a 10-point margin they would maintain for the rest of the game.
“MA has a good team,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “Unfortunately for them, not only did they have that long football run (to the 3A semifinals), but they had to quarantine two weeks right when they started. But they still have some really good athletes and a good team. I knew tonight would be a four-quarter game. I was proud of the way the guys played.”
Four 3 pointers in the fourth quarter from Jon Cole Portis, Parker Hughes and Beau O’Ferrell gave the Wildcats a comfortable margin, but Arrighi said it all started on the defensive end of the court.
“This team can shoot it well,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be an every-night thing, but more often than not we can make shots from the outside. Normally, we shoot the ball so much better when we’re playing well on defense. Early on, I thought we played really good defense. I thought it was what led to some of our offensive push. When we went a little dead in the third quarter, I thought it was because we weren’t very aggressive in our defense.”
Arrighi said a key to beating the Eagles was Trinity’s defensive effort against senior Britton Kohn and junior Jamal Cooper, both of whom managed just two points each in the first half.
“They have what I consider the two best athletes on the floor in Jamal and BK,” Arrighi said. “BK can really jump, he can shoot it, Jamal is extremely strong and fast and really drives. For us, it starts with those two.”
Montgomery Academy got eight points from Cooper, Judson Lindsey and Thomas Kirkham and seven points from Kohn and James Snead as the Eagles struggled to find offensive consistency.
“We started really slow,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “They’re a really good team, a lot of senior leadership. They understand what they want to do on offense and defense and do a really good job. We knew it was going to be tough coming in here and we had to play well. We definitely have to work to get more consistent offensively. We turned the ball over a ton tonight. When you give a good team like them 15 more possessions than you get, it’s going to be hard to beat them.”
Andrew McNees led Trinity with 15 points, followed by Portis with 14 and O’Ferrell with 10.
Trinity (10-5 and 1-0 in area play) travels to Prattville Christian on Tuesday, then goes to Catholic on Friday for a pair of area games. Montgomery Academy (5-4, 0-1) travels to Catholic on Tuesday, then to Prattville Christian on Friday.
MA girls 57, Trinity 25
If the first meeting was an instant classic, the rematch didn’t have quite the same flair.
If Trinity made a statement in a win over Montgomery Academy in the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic three weeks ago, the Eagles returned the favor with a dominating 57-25 win over the Wildcats in the area opener for both teams on Friday night in the Trinity gym.
The Wildcats came out in that December meeting with an intense defensive effort that seemed to catch Montgomery Academy off guard. In the rematch, the Eagles came out with some defense of their own, turning Trinity miscues into easy layups on the other end of the court, building an insurmountable lead by the end of the first quarter and leading by as many as 40 points late in the third quarter.
“I think their defense played into their offense,” Trinity coach Blake Smith said. “It got them up and down the floor a little better and we didn’t match up well in transition. I just think we forced a little bit. If you’re a program that is starting to experience success, you have to learn how to manage that. At the end of the day, I think that was new territory for us and we didn’t respond to it very well.
“In our tournament, we wanted it. Tonight, it was pretty quick that they were out to make a statement.”
Montgomery Academy (13-2) had a different look early as Chloe Johnson took command of the floor, putting together her best performance since transferring to the school over the summer. The junior, who won AISA player of the year honors last season, has provided some gentle leadership on a senior-laden team, preferring to pass the ball to open teammates.
On Friday, she came out with a shooting touch and finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, four steals, six assists and one blocked shot, most of that coming in the first half before the game got out of hand.
“It was definitely as aggressive as she’s played offensively,” Montgomery Academy coach Reg Mantooth said. “It’s something we talked to her about. I think the first time we played, she shot twice the whole first half and four times for the whole game. We wanted her to be a little more aggressive, looking to score. A new player trying to fit in with a new team, we’re still trying to fit everybody together, but that was definitely something we wanted.”
On the other end of the floor, Emma Kate Smith discovered that Montgomery Academy’s transition offense resulted in basketball and defensive pressure from the Eagles that held the area’s top scorer without a point in the first half.
“I think they knew what things were coming,” Smith said. “She missed three or four that she would have normally made a couple of them, but they just played her harder and knew what was coming and I think she backed off a little bit.”
Leighton Robertson guarded her in the first meeting as well, but this time Smith’s points (she had eight in the game) didn’t come until the Eagles had built a 40-point lead.
“I think the only thing we did different was try to make it a little tougher for her to catch the ball,” Mantooth said. “She’s hard to guard. I thought Leighton did a great job on her.”
Madi Caddell had 11 of her game-high 15 points in the first half and Gabby Ramirez hit a pair of 3 pointers in the first quarter as the Eagles cruised out to a 19-3 lead in the first quarter and 36-9 at the half. Robertson had six of her eight points in the first half as well and Ann Cobern Chapman and Anaya Thomas combined for 15 rebounds as the Eagles dominated in all aspects of the game.
“In the first game, it was harder for them to get into their offensive stuff,” Smith said. “In this game, it was a lot harder for us. Sometimes, I thought we got a little careless. They start hitting shots, we throw up quick ones or throw it away and it snowballs quick.”
Mary Alice Sasser’s 3 pointer was the only points for Trinity (12-2) in the first quarter, while Maddie Smith had a pair of baskets to account for the Wildcats’ only points from the field in the second quarter. Smith finished with 11 to lead the Wildcats.
While the loss dropped the Wildcats to 0-1 in area play, there is little time to reflect as Trinity travels to Prattville Christian on Tuesday and Catholic on Friday for two more area games.
“Our message before the game was, look, we’re talking about going on a journey and progressively getting better until the end,” Smith said. “We’d love to win this game but this game is not what fully controls us. We’ll learn some things from it.”
Likewise, the Eagles travel to Catholic on Tuesday and Prattville Christian on Friday and have little time to rest on a 1-0 area start.
“That’s just one of six,” Mantooth said. “We’ve got five more area games. I feel like they’ll all be tough. We’re just hoping to get better.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
Catholic 54, Prattville Christian 42
DJ Jamerson scored 14 points and LJ Green added 11 as the Knights eased past Prattville Christian 54-42 in the area opener for both teams on Friday night in the Catholic gym.
Jacob Comer led the Panthers with 20 points and five rebounds. Coleman Hunter added eight points and four rebounds. Stillman Davis had six points and six rebounds, while Brady Hughes grabbed five rebounds.
Catholic (7-5) remains home to play Brew Tech on Saturday at 4:30 p.m., before hosting Montgomery Academy in an area game on Tuesday. Prattville Christian (6-11) will play host to Trinity on Tuesday.
In the junior varsity game, Brady Roberson had 12 points and four assists to lead Prattville Christian in a 60-37 loss to Catholic. Collier Connell scored 10 points. Collin Ross and Cohen Palmore each scored five points, while Cade Segars dished out four assists. PCA (3-4) will host St. James on Saturday.
Pike Road 62, Brewbaker Tech 45
Blake Durham scored 22 points to lead Pike Road to its fifth consecutive win and second area win with a 62-45 victory over the Rams in the Brew Tech gym on Friday night.
Trey Wallace added 19 points for Pike Road, followed by KJ Westry with eight. The Patriots (12-7 and 2-0 in area play) travel to Opelika on Saturday before returning home to play host to Tallassee in an area game on Friday.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Pike Road 41, Brewbaker Tech 36
Freshman Jazz Johnson had 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Patriots to their second consecutive area victory with a 41-36 win in the Brew Tech gym on Friday night.
Jada Roberts added 11 points for Pike Road, which improved to 2-0 in area play and will host Tallassee in a 5A, Area 5 game on Friday.
Prattville Christian 62, Catholic 20
Ella Jane Connell led the Lady Panthers with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists as Prattville Christian won its area opener in the Catholic gym on Friday night.
Hannah Jones added 14 points and 13 rebounds for PCA, followed by Avery Rogers with 13 points and five steals, CoCo Thomas with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists and Chelsea Mulliner with seven points.
PCA (16-2) will play host to Trinity on Tuesday in another area matchup.
Alabama Christian 43, LAMP 32
Michaelyn Manning scored 22 points, including 15 in the second half, to lead the Eagles to an 11-point win over the Golden Tigers in the area opener for both teams on Friday in the LAMP gym.
Manning had just seven points at the half and ACA was clinging to a five-point lead, but Manning had eight points in the third quarter, twice that of LAMP, to help the Eagles pull away.
LAMP managed just two field goals in the second half and got most of its points at the free-throw line, where LAMP players connected on 8 of 14 free throws in the third and fourth quarters.
Mackenie Lewis led LAMP with 12 points, followed by Ariana Cannida with 10.
ACA returns home to play Holtville on Monday and Highland Home on Tuesday.
WRESTLING
St. James 48, Reeltown 24
St. James 52, Holtville 18
Saint James extended its 2020-21 dual meet record to 13-5 with a pair of victories in a tri-match against Reeltown and Holtville on Thursday.
The Trojans were led by senior Taylor Penney (heavyweight division) and junior Clayton Craft (170-pound division), who pinned both of their opponents.