PREP UPDATE: Trinity pulls away late to blow out LAMP; STJ girls win 10th straight

LAMP’s TJ English is grabbed by Trinity's Patton Mitchell during the Wildcats’ win on Monday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Minutes into Monday’s game with Trinity, LAMP coach Robb McGaughey pulled his starting unit off the floor.

“The way we started out, I was like, hey man, whenever y’all are ready to play, let me know,” McGaughey said. “We were down 11-0, did everything wrong. I was like, you know what? If you’re going to watch the game, you can come over and watch it with me.”

 Perhaps it was because the crucial 4A Area 5 meeting was moved up a day to avoid the wintry weather on Tuesday, Maybe it was because Trinity opened the game with intensity and determination.

Whatever the reason, the Golden Tigers looked sluggish in falling behind early and McGaughey was at a loss for an explanation.

“I can’t speak to what’s going on in their minds, but they did not show a team that had opportunity to compete for second or third place (in the area),” he said. “They played hard, they didn’t have that intensity and that focus that they needed to, where I felt Trinity did.”

The Wildcats pulled away in the second half and defeated the Golden Tigers 59-39, guaranteeing Trinity either the second or third seed in the upcoming area tournament.

Booker T. Washington (6-0 in area play) will host the upcoming area tournament and the fourth and fifth seeds will play each other, with the winner playing BTW in the area tournament semifinals. LAMP went into Monday’s game with a shot at finishing second in the area, but is now almost certain to finish fourth.

Trinity is second in the area at 5-2, followed by Catholic (2-3), LAMP (2-5) and Tallassee (0-5).

“I thought the guys came out with a great mindset, ready to play,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “Sometimes, that can be a little bit of an Achilles’ heel because we lost our focus about three or four minutes into the game and we didn’t have that same intensity. We weren’t matching up on dead balls, we weren’t communicating, there’s a couple of plays where we didn’t even have a guy covered.

“At halftime, we had to regroup and talk about the importance of staying locked in. In the second half, I thought we did that and we had another good defensive night as well.”

John Morris led Trinity with 16 points, including 10 in the first quarter, but the Wildcats got perimeter help from Cooper Bernier with 12 points, Kamari Hutson with 11 and Brady Bennett with nine. 

And while that offensive distribution made them difficult to beat, Trinity’s greatest success was on the defensive end of the floor, where they refused to let the Golden Tigers get any momentum for a second-half rally.

TJ English led LAMP with 13 points, while Ezekial Griffin finished with 11 and the leading inside threat, Benedict Akwuba, had eight points and never got untracked.

 “Both games against them, but especially this time, we talked about the importance of playing with pressure but not fouling,” Arrighi said. “Both times, we fouled them a lot and put them on the foul line, which is something you cannot do against them. But we did a much better job against No. 50 (Akwuba) this time than last time. We changed our strategy a little bit in how we were doing it. I thought, for the most part, the guys did a good job of executing the defensive game plan tonight.”

LAMP (10-13) will play host to Catholic on Friday before traveling to BTW Magnet on Monday.

Trinity (15-6) will travel to Montgomery Academy for the annual “Coaches vs. Cancer Classic” on Thursday, then close out area play with a game at Catholic on Monday. 

Trinity girls pummel LAMP

The Trinity girls made quick work of LAMP on Monday and can now turn their attention to Monday’s meeting with Catholic to determine the regular-season 4A Area 5 champion and the top seed in the upcoming area tournament.

The Wildcats scored the first 29 points in the game and went on to defeat the Golden Tigers 73-14 at Captain Jack Court in a game moved up a day to avoid the wintry weather on Tuesday.

Trinity improved to 6-1 in area play and trails Catholic (5-0), but the two teams meet next Monday to determine the area championship. Tallassee is third in the area at 2-3, followed by Booker T. Washington (2-4) and LAMP (0-7).

“Everybody that got in the game tonight moved well and defended well,” Trinity coach Blake Smith said. “One thing that’s really helping us is Lilly (Smith) is taking a little more ownership of being aggressive. When teams have to worry about her, which they do when she plays like that, it makes us much more difficult to defend.”

Smith scored 13 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 19. Her performance in the paint allowed Mya Msokowitz to slide outside and contribute 17 points from the wing.

Maddie Smith added 16 points, followed by Ellie Causey with 13.

Trinity took a 29-0 lead before Chloe Thomas connected in the lane with 6:40 left in the second quarter to put the Golden Tigers on the scoreboard. Thomas’ shot was one of just three field goals in the game for the Golden Tigers. Caroline Russell led LAMP with six points, all at the free-throw line.

 “I like seeing everybody’s movement, the ability to get other people open rather than just waiting on an open shot to be thrown to them,” Blake Smith said. “They’re actually attacking hard and making good passes.”

After the game, Trinity guard Francie Morris, who has missed most of the 2024-25 season with an injury, was honored along with her brother John, a forward on the boys’ team, as both players reached 1,000 points in their careers. Francie actually reached the milestone on Jan. 30, 2024, but school officials waited until John scored his 1,000th point last week at LAMP so they could be recognized together.

LAMP (4-15) will play host to Catholic on Friday to close out area play, then face BTW Magnet on Saturday.

Trinity (22-4) will travel to Montgomery Academy for the annual “Coaches vs. Cancer Classic” on Thursday, then close out area play with a game at Catholic on Monday. 

GIRLS BASKETBALL

St. James 64, Pike Road 27

The Trojans won their 10th consecutive game with a comfortable win over Pike Road on Monday night.

Natalie Barton had 17 points, three rebounds, three steals and four assists to lead a balanced attack, followed by Morgan Lilly with 13 points, two rebounds, three steals and three assists. Jordyn McRae recorded a double double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and six steals and Kaitlin Mitchell added nine points, six rebounds, two steals and three assists.  

Pike Road (11-12) returns home to host Rehobeth in an area game on Thursday.

St. James (24-2) will play its final three area games at home, beginning with Alabama Christian on Friday, followed by a rescheduled game against Montgomery Academy on Saturday and Thorsby on Monday.

WRESTLING

Prattville Christian wins 12-team PCA Invitational

PRATTVILLE -- For the first time in the 13-year history of the Prattville Christian Academy wrestling team, the Panthers won their own tournament.

The weather-delayed, 12-team PCA Panther Invitational was held on Monday and the Panthers took first place with 137.5 points, followed by Walter Wellborn (134.0) and Catholic (127.0).

PCA’s Spencer Perkins was voted as the tournament most valuable player after winning the 157-pound weight division.

Ryan Lueck (132 pounds) and Bryson Bowman (215 pounds) finished as runners-up in their respective weight divisions, while Cole Young (165 pounds) and Carter Copeland (175 pounds) both placed third.

Jude Bray (106 pounds), Jens Johnson (138 pounds) and Elijah Harris (144 pounds) all placed fourth in their respective weight divisions.