PREP UPDATE: Morris's return sparks Trinity win over Catholic; PCA girls earn third-straight area title
Francie Morris returned from an injury to lead Trinity to an easy win over Catholic in the Class 4A, Area 5 tourney championship on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
She’s back. And so are the Trinity Wildcats.
The two-time defending state champions looked like contenders on Tuesday night, shooting Catholic out of the gym in a 70-30 rout to capture the 4A Area 5 Tournament championship at Trinity’s Captain Jack Court.
It was the first major playing time for Francie Morris since injuring her hip in a Dec. 14 game at James Clemens. In the 12 games after the injury, the senior shooting guard sat on the bench and cheered on teammates that often relied on chemistry, teamwork and defense to pull out wins. Morris returned to the floor on Monday in a tournament semifinal rout of Booker T. Washington, limited to four minutes in the first quarter and four more in the second quarter in her first action since being cleared by doctors.
On Tuesday, her return signaled the return of the Wildcats, with all four returning starters from last year’s championship team taking the floor for the first time in nearly two months. Morris started the game off with a 3-pointer and fired in another from the corner minutes later as the Wildcats stormed out to an 13-0 lead over the shell-shocked Knights.
“You have two playmakers on the floor,” Trinity coach Blake Smith explained. “Both Francie and (point guard) Maddie (Smith) have the capability of making other people better and they have the capability of making the defense start shifting. Then they make plays for other people. All of a sudden, when you put her on the floor, it creates a dynamic where she’s able to get through gaps, if they miss a rotation (to get open) she can hit a shot, she can penetrate through it and make a floater. She’s made to play against a zone like that.”
Evidently so. Morris kept firing and the shots kept falling. By the time the half was completed, she had hit 7 of 8 shots, scored 18 points and helped the Wildcats to a 44-18 halftime lead.
“When the first one went in, I was like, ‘OK,’” she said. “My teammates just got me up and I was like, you know, I’m going to keep shooting it because I’m open. Thankfully, they went in.”
Her return to the lineup also changed the look of the Trinity defense, which continued to put Maddie Smith on Catholic’s top player, Hannah Smith, but allowed Morris to guard Catholic point guard Heaven Bailey and shift Lilly Smith, who had guarded Bailey in previous games, back inside for rebounding help and baseline defense.
“We had a fun team dynamic out there tonight,” Morris said. “I think our coaches had a great game plan. As long as we shut Heaven and Hannah down, we’ll win this game. That’s the best we’ve shot against Catholic and I think that’s one of the reasons why we won the game. The other three times we played them, we haven’t been shooting the 3-ball as well. Tonight, Maddie and Mya (Moskowitz) and everybody hit 3s.”
Hannah Smith scored 10 points and Bailey added nine, with the remainder of the Catholic roster contributing just five field goals in the game.
“The good news is this is a game that you could lose and still have life,” Catholic coach Jill Clark said. “After that, anything else you lose, you’re done. We’ve got a tough road ahead. We’re playing PCA Friday. We’ve just got to get to work. They know what they’ve got to do.”
Morris led the Wildcats with 23 points while dishing out six assists. She was 9 of 13 from the field.
“She’s just a competitor who gets after it,” Clark said. “As a team, they just pass the ball and shoot the ball so well. It’s not just one or two of them, but obviously she adds a lot. She’s a very good defensive player, just a good basketball player. We knew she would be back. She’s one more person that can handle the ball, one more person that can shoot the ball, one more person that plays really good defense, which puts us in a bind.”
To compound the problem, Hannah Smith picked up her second foul less than a minute into the second quarter on a charge against Maddie Smith, then went to the bench with her third personal foul moments later after running over Smith in a scramble for a loose ball.
“She picked up some early ones and she just can’t do that,” Clark said. “We’re a different team when she gets in foul trouble. It limits what we can do offensively and defensively.”
Trinity hit 13 of 25 from behind the 3-point arc on Tuesday as Moskowitz followed up Monday’s 18-point performance with 16 points, four assists and four rebounds, while Maddie Smith had 15 points, five assists and five rebounds.
Moskowitz was named the area tournament’s most valuable player. Joining her on the all-tournament team were Morris and Maddie Smith, along with Hannah Smith and Bailey of Catholic.
Catholic (18-7) will travel to Prattville Christian for a sub-regional matchup with the Panthers on Friday at 6 p.m. in the PCA gym. Trinity (26-4) will remain home to play host to Bibb County on Friday in a sub-regional game.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
St. James 59, Montgomery Academy 29
The Trojans placed three players in double figures led by Natalie Barton’s 17 points to earn the Class 3A Area 5 championship on Tuesday.
Jordyn McRae added 12 points, 9 rebounds while Kaitlin Mitchell scored 11 points and pulled down 5 rebounds for the Trojans (30-2). Lily Stanford added seven points.
Garland Thomas led the Eagles with eight points and two steals, while Bailey Davis had seven points.
St. James will host Glenwood on Friday at 6 p.m. in a Central Subregional game with the winner advancing to the regional at Alabama State University. MA (11-17) travels to Lee-Scott on Friday.
Prattville Christian 49, Bibb County 11
PRATTVILLE -- The Panthers won their third consecutive area tournament title, defeating Bibb County 49-11 in the Class 4A Area 6 Tournament championship game in the PCA gym on Tuesday.
Prattville Christian (21-9) will play host to Catholic in a sub-regional game on Friday at 6 p.m.
Kayden Carr led the Panthers with 15 points and five rebounds, followed by Chelsea Cutler with eight points, eight steals and four rebounds, Jenna McClendon with seven points and six rebounds, Ally Blankinchip with seven points and five assists and Laney Little with six points and seven rebounds. Christiana Franklin added three points and five rebounds, Kayleigh Arthur scored three points and Hannah Royal grabbed four rebounds.
McClendon was named the area tournament’s most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Carr and Blankinchip.
Hooper Academy 55, Cornerstone Christian 24
HOPE HULL -- Grace Seale scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had three steals and an assist as the Colts closed out the 2024-25 season with a 55-24 win at Darrell Self Gym on Tuesday night.
Raylee Midkiff also had a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, along with a steal and an assist. Ashbee Norman had seven points, six rebounds, six steals and an assist, Henlee Garvin had six points and four rebounds and Jordan Conway had three points and five steals.
Hooper Academy ends the season at 14-9.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hooper Academy 49, Cornerstone Christian 36
HOPE HULL -- The Colts closed out the regular season with a defensive battle, jumping out to an early lead over Cornerstone Christian and cruising to a 49-36 win at Darrell Self Gym on Tuesday.
Nolan Cole hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter to stake the Colts to a 17-10 lead and they extended the lead to 27-14 at the half.
Cole finished with 20 points, followed by Luke Moseley with 12 and Kaleb Jackson with six.
Seth Dillard led Cornerstone with 12 points, followed by Zeke Adams with 11.
Hooper Academy (23-2) returns to action next week in the Alabama Independent School Association Class AA quarterfinals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
GIRLS TENNIS
Montgomery Academy 9, St. James 0
The Class 7A Eagles improved to 2-0 with a singles and doubles sweep of the 2024 Class 1A-3A state runner-up Trojans at Lagoon Park Tennis Center on Tuesday.
Gabby Barrera also improved to 2-0 in No. 1 singles this season, defeating Helen Johnston, who won the 1A-3A state title at No. 5 singles last year. Lola Campbell won No. 2 singles over Davis Wilsford, Mary Surhea White defeated Bailey Woods at No. 3, Elizabeth Campbell defeated Haley Hust at No. 4, Alyssa Kaplan beat Olivia Willis at No. 5 and Lillian Cameron made her debut at No. 6 singles and defeated Sara Johnston.
In doubles, Barrera and Lola Campbell won at No. 1, White-Kaplan won at No. 2 and Cameron and Elizabeth Campbell won at No. 3.