PREP RECAP: PCA girls hoops tops Lady Lions; Hooper boys top Lowndes; Macon East rips Southern

COMBINED REPORTS

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Prattville Christian 51, Prattville 39

AUTAUGAVILLE -- Avery Rogers scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out four assists as the defending 4A state champions bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 51-39 win over the 7A Lions in the opening round of the Autauga County Basketball Tournament in the Autaugaville gym on Thursday. 

Jenna McClendon added 18 points and eight rebounds, while Leah Cate Wilson had 14 rebounds to go with her four points. Kayden Carr had a double double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, along with four points. Sydney Lee added three points. 

PCA (8-1) will play Marbury on Friday in the championship game at 7 p.m.

Pike Road 55, Wetumpka 20 

PIKE ROAD -- Jazz Johnson recorded a double double with 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Patriots to a 55-20 win over Wetumpka in the Pike Road gym on Thursday night.

Audrey Blaine added 17 points and six rebounds.  

The Patriots remain home to play host to Lanett on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Lakeside School 60, Evangel Christian 31

EUFAULA -- Sophie Seaburn scored 22 points as the Lakeside Chiefs cruised out to a 33-10 lead at the half and cruised past the Lions on Thursday night at Pitts Gymnasium.

Chloe Helms added 18 points for Lakeside, followed by Addysen Ericksen with 11 points. 

Lakeside remains home to face Calvary Christian of Columbus, Ga., on Friday night, while Evangel will remain on the road and travel to Macon East Academy on Friday.

St. James 46, Prattville Christian 39

PRATTVILLE -- Ava Card recorded a double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Trojans to a hard-fought 46-39 win over Prattville Christian in the PCA gym on Tuesday. 

Natalie Barton added 14 points, six rebounds and four steals, while Katie Brightwell dished out eight assists and grabbed four rebounds. KK Corley added six points.  

Jenna McClendon led PCA with 13 points and 16 rebounds, followed by Kayden Carr with 12 points and six rebounds, Avery Rogers with eight points and four assists, Sydney Lee with six points and Leah Cate Wilson with five rebounds. 

The Trojans avenged a 48-40 loss to the Panthers in the opening round of the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tip Off Tournament on Nov. 20. 

St. James (7-2) returns home to play host to 6A Wetumpka on Friday.   

In the junior varsity game, Kaden Fair scored 20 points to lead the Trojans to a 45-11 win. Lily Stanford added 11 points, followed by Ragan King with six, Elliette Barton with five and Mary Olive Maddox with four. The junior varsity Trojans will play at Alabama Christian on Thursday. 

Kinley Brown led PCA (1-7) with four points, followed by Chelsea Cutler with three. Christiana Franklin grabbed 10 rebounds, Reagan James grabbed five and Karter Brown grabbed four. 

Hooper Academy 37, Lowndes Academy 27

HOPE HULL -- KG Taylor led a balanced attack with 11 points, a rebound and a pair of steals as the Colts defeated the Rebels 37-27 in Darrell Self Memorial Gym on Tuesday. 

Ashbee Norman added eight points, five rebounds, three steals and four assists followed by Victoria Hagemann with seven points, eight rebounds, a steal and an assist, Grace Seale with five points, eight rebounds and three steals, Annie Bressler with three points, a steal and a rebound and Raylee Midkiff with three points, three rebounds and a steal.

BOYS BASKETBALL 

Hooper Academy 56, Lowndes Academy 26

HOPE HULL -- Nolan Cole hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter and two more in the third to propel the Colts to a 30-point win over the Rebels at Darrell Self Memorial Gym on Tuesday. 

Cole finished with a game-high 22 points as the Colts jumped out to a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and used a 21-point second quarter to take a 36-18 lead into the locker room at the half.

Kadyn Lumley added 11 points for Hooper, followed by Luke Mosley with eight.

Clayton Hussey led Lowndes with 11 points, followed by Watters Box with eight.

Hooper (2-3) travels to Elmore to play in a tournament at Edgewood Academy on Friday and Saturday.

Stanhope Elmore 60, Montgomery Academy 56

MILLBROOK -- Playing without leading scorer Skyler Stovall due to illness for the second day in a row, Montgomery Academy lost for the second time this season, falling at Stanhope Elmore 60-56 on Tuesday night. 

DJ Vinson led the Eagles with 19 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. Brewer Welch added 15 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and four steals, followed by Seth Edwards with 10 points, 11 rebounds and a blocked shot, Cole Caddell with nine points and Jarrett Friendly with three points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots. 

Montgomery Academy (8-2) returns home to play BTW Magnet on Saturday.

Macon East Academy 64, Southern 19

CAMP HILL -- Keegan Roney had 23 points, six rebounds, a pair of steals and a blocked shot to lead the Knights to an easy win over Southern Prep Academy in the Class AAA Region 1 opener for the Knights. 

Jacob Johnson added 17 points, four rebounds, four steals and an assist for the Knights, followed by Jacob Simpson with nine points, five rebounds, four steals and an assist and Omarion Wilson with eight steals and six assists to go along with three points. 

Macon East Academy will travel to Elmore to play in a tournament at Edgewood Academy on Friday and Saturday.

Prattville 54, Prattville Christian 52

AUTAUGAVILLE -- Cade Segars had 18 points, five rebounds and took three charges but the Panthers dropped a hard-fought battle with the 7A Lions in the opening round of the Autauga County Basketball Tournament in the Autaugaville gym on Thursday. 

Collier Connell added 18 points and five rebounds for PCA, followed by PJ Evans with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Justin Chapman grabbed four rebounds. 

After losing 10 of their first 11 games, Prattville (3-10) has now won consecutive games for the first time this season. 

PCA (4-6) will play Marbury on Friday in the third-place game at 5:30 p.m.

Prattville Christian 66, St. James 41

PRATTVILLE -- Collier Connell had 26 points, five rebounds and five assists as the Panthers defeated the Trojans on Tuesday in the PCA gym.  

Cade Segars added 24 points, six assists and four rebounds as the Trojans made their 2023-24 debut after reaching the semifinals in football. PJ Evans added 10 points for PCA, along with seven rebounds and four steals. Followed by Brady Roberson with six points and six rebounds. Ryan Kiefer grabbed nine rebounds.

Glenwood School 49, Evangel Christian 45

SMITHS STATION -- Down 10 points at halftime, Evangel outscored Glenwood in the second half by four points but came up short in the loss at Glenwood on Tuesday night. 

Tylon Shine scored 14 points and Will McCord added 13 points while Jamar Nickerson chipped in six points for Evangel.

The Lions (4-4) will travel to Eufaula to play Lakeside School on Thursday.

Prattville 73, Wetumpka 66

PRATTVILLE -- Ty Bryant scored 26 points, including 8 of 8 at the free-throw line, to help the Lions snap a six-game losing skid with a 73-66 win over the Indians in Powell Gym on Tuesday night.

Bryant also had five rebounds for the Lions. Donavan Brown had 13 points and six rebounds and Isaiah Bradley had 11 points with the help of three 3-pointers. Evan Chandler had a team-high eight rebounds to go along with four points.

WRESTLING

PCA sweeps Northside Methodist, St. James on Thursday, drops tri-match on Tuesday

The Prattville Christian Academy wrestling team traveled to St. James to wrestle the Trojans and Northside Methodist, defeating Northside 58-24 and defeating a short-handed Trojan team 42-40.  

The Panther wrestling team (6-4 in dual meets) will travel to Weaver High and take part in the Gene Taylor Invitational on Friday and Saturday.  

The Panther wrestling team traveled to Tallassee to take part in a quad match on Tuesday, falling to 5A Valley (48-36), 5A Tallassee (71-12) and 6A Benjamin Russell (39-30). 

Undefeated PCA wrestlers were Brysen Pugh and Aidan Cockrell.  

SUPER 7 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

3A CHAMPIONSHIP: Mobile Christian 55, Madison Academy 28

TUSCALOOSA – Mobile Christian scored three touchdowns in the final 10:10 to beat Madison Academy 55-28 in Thursday’s Class 3A Super 7 State Championship game played at the University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium.


Junior quarterback and 3A game MVP Damien Gatson supplied the decisive play, hooking up with Kentonio Kelly on a 55-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, just 30 seconds after Madison Academy’s Ken Cherry scored on a 14-yard run to make it a one-score game.
“It hit him in the hands and he broke a couple of tackles,”

Gatson said.
Mobile Christian (15-0) won its first AHSAA football state title, having finished as Class 3A runner-up in 2016 and 2019. It was especially satisfying for head coach Ronnie Cottrell, who underwent eye surgery a week ago.


“After we beat St. James (in the semifinals), I knew they were going to win it,” Cottrell said, referring to his players. “I didn’t know it was going to be this convincing.”
Madison Academy (14-1), which was trying to win its first state title since winning three in a row from 2012-14, didn’t make it easy for the Leopards.
The Leopards built an early 14-0 lead, as Gatson threw touchdown passes of 38 yards to Aaron Rogers and 33 yards to PJ Brown.

Cherry responded with a 19-yard TD run and a 75-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 14-all with 2:04 to go before halftime. Mobile Christian’s Michael Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards and was knocked out of bounds inside the MA 10, and Jordan Woullard’s 2-yard TD run with 1:04 to go before halftime made it 21-14.
Gatson completed 15-of-20 passes for 298 yards and five touchdowns, and Brown led the rushing attack with 17 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown. Rogers caught five passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and Kelly led the defense with 14 tackles and an interception. Sema’j Law and Todd also intercepted passes.


Cherry led Madison Academy with 24 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns and added five catches for 122 yards and a score. Poldiak finished 20-of-39 passing for 342 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Jackson caught six passes for 69 yards. 


1A CHAMPIONSHIP: Leroy 28, Coosa Christian 21

TUSCALOOSA – Leroy High School used an old-school approach to take home a new AHSAA State Championship Blue Map.

Coosa Christian’s Grant Morgan blocked a Leroy punt and teammate Kylen Johnson recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game at 21-21 with 6:26 left in the final quarter, But the Bears (14-0) drove 61 yards in eight plays – all running plays – and Class 1A state finals MVP Ja’Kavien Collins scored on a 1-yard run with 2:01 to play to lift Leroy to 28-21 victory over Coosa Christian in the 2023 Super 7 Class 1A championship game Thursday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Leroy repeated as the Class 1A champ. The win extended Leroy’s current winning streak to 20 in a row heading into next season.
The victory punctuated a unique journey for the Bears. Veteran head coach Jason Massey led the Bears through preseason practice and the first month of the season before being deployed for  active duty as part of his National Guard unit.

That thrust Lowe into the interim role, although he and Massey talked constantly throughout the season.

Lowe said he face-timed with Massey on the field just after the game ended. “All the credit goes to Coach Massey because he built a culture here,” Lowe said, “and our kids thrive in this culture.”

5A CHAMPIONSHIP: Gulf Shores 21, Ramsey 14

  TUSCALOOSA – Senior Ronnie Royal ran 22 times for 188 yards and scored on touchdown runs of 2 and 55 yards, caught three passes for 39 yards and delivered a highlight-reel, 1-handed interception to lead the Dolphins (15-0) to a 21-14 victory over defending champ Ramsay in Thursday night’s Class 5A championship game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.


“I’ve been preparing for this my whole life, since I started playing varsity football in the seventh grade,” Royal said. “All I wanted was to work and look forward to winning a championship.”
Gulf Shores (15-0), coached by Mark Hudspeth, won the first football state championship in school history, capping Day 2 of the 2023 Super 7 Championships. “What a night – a dream come true,” Hudspeth said.