SCHWEERS CCC TOURNEY: Highand Home takes boys; PCA wins girls

Highland Home, led by Keldrick Faulk (15) and PCA, with CoCo Thomas, won the 27th Jack Schweers CCC Tourney on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Highland Home defensive end Keldrick Faulk is the type of player that can alter a game.

The junior sports 14 college offers throughout the country, including six in the Southeastern Conference, after four years as a starter for the Flying Squadron.

He’s not too bad as a basketball player, either, altering shots and shutting down opponents in the paint, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the second half to give the Squadron the boys’ championship of the Jack Schweers Capital City Conference Tournament on Tuesday with a 46-35 win over St. James in the Trinity gym.

“He’s a super kid,” Highland Home coach Jonny Mitchell said. “He’s everything you want a kid to be. He picks up trash in the locker room. He’s a four-star or five-star football player, depending on who you ask, who works just as hard to help his basketball team. He works on his game in basketball just as much. I think he’s a Division I-A basketball player.”

He looked like one on Tuesday, holding St. James’ forward K.J. Jackson to two points while shutting down the Trojans’ transition game with blocked shots and altering anything a St. James player shot around the basket to earn most valuable player honors in the tournament.

“We did all we could do,” St. James coach Nigel Card said. “We tried to go inside but he was a factor. He took our best inside player away from us where he only scored two points. We ran several sets to get (Jackson) the ball but we were unable to convert on any.

“Their size was a big, big factor. It altered a bunch of shots and not only on the defensive end but on the offensive end they took it from the high post and dropped it to the low post and scored.”

The Trojans led early but a trio of 3 pointers from three different players boosted the Squadron into a 26-19 advantage at the half. As the Trojans worked on getting the ball inside in the third quarter, Highland Home was more determined to turn back the threat as Faulk and his younger brother, freshman Jakaleb, combined to shut down the St. James offense.

“I think we played better today than we did (Monday),” Mitchell said. “We’ve compacted a lot of games in since football, making up games. We didn’t quite have the same energy (Monday). We haven’t been in these situations a lot. We’re dealing with success now and learning how to handle that.”

The Trojans went 9 of 19 from the free-throw line, but Card gave credit to the Squadron for shutting down the offense. 

“They kind of played at a different level tonight,” Card said. “They contested everything, were able to score easy around the hole and then they hit free throws. If we make free throws, it’s a much better contest.”

The Trojans pulled within 36-29 in the fourth quarter, but the next four possessions ended with no points. Ethan Beard’s transition layup was blocked by Keldrick Faulk, Jackson missed a pair of free throws, Matt Middleton missed the front end of the one-and-one and Bradley Thomas missed in the lane after altering his shot to prevent a Faulk block.

Thomas led St. James (6-2) with 15 points, followed by Beard with eight. Both players joined Faulk on the all-tournament team, along with Letregan Cooper and Brice McKenzie of Highland Home and Montgomery Academy’s Jamal Cooper.

Highland Home (11-1) was a late fill-in for the Capital City Conference Tournament after LAMP pulled out and the Flying Squadron ended up winning their first CCC Tournament title. 

“I think it’s a great confidence booster for our kids,” Mitchell said. “I don’t want to say they have a chip on their shoulder but our program has never been highly successful in basketball and they do have a desire to have some respect, not just for them but for the school and the community. This is big. We don’t have a lot of championship tournament trophies and this is a good tournament. There are good coaches and players in it.”

Card, meanwhile, said his team will be fine as it prepares for a Jan. 3 game at home against Trinity. 

“I feel great about my team,” he said. “I think they’re going to continue to get better. They will make free throws and they will finish one-foot shots around the hole. This is just one of those nights. We haven’t played against that kind of length and athleticism. This is the first time we saw that and it affected us tonight.”

Montgomery Academy 45, Trinity 42

Jamal Cooper had 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals to lead the Eagles to a third-place finish in the tournament with a 45-42 win over Trinity on Tuesday.

Nigel Walker chipped in eight points, 12 rebounds, three steals and three assists, followed by Brewer Welch with eight points and two assists and DJ Vinson with five points and 10 rebounds. Jashawn Cooper also scored two points and grabbed seven rebounds. 

MA (2-3) will play in a tournament on Dec. 27-30 at Freeport (Fla.) High School.

Pike Road 69, Prattville Christian 53

Carson Roberson led the Panthers with 27 points in a 69-53 loss to Pike Road in the Jack Schweers Capital City Conference Tournament on Tuesday. 

Roberson finished the tournament with 62 points in three games. 

Coleman Hunter added 12 points and seven rebounds, Cade Segars scored seven points and PJ Evans scored four points. Brady Hughes grabbed six rebounds. 

PCA (6-9) returns to action on Monday in the Winfield Classic

GIRLS

PCA tops Trinity for title

The first six minutes of Tuesday’s championship game in the Jack Schweers Capital City Conference Tournament was as intense as any basketball game you could find in the state this season.

Area rivals Prattville Christian and Trinity knew when they were placed on opposite ends of the tournament bracket they would find their way to this meeting and players on both sides were anticipating the matchup between PCA (16-0) and Trinity (13-1).

But no matter the talent on both ends of the court, there was one glaring matchup problem for the Wildcats.

Hannah Jones scored the game’s first basket on a lob from guard Avery Rogers, added the second on a putback, blocked a pair of shots on the defensive end of the floor, the put back another miss and the Panthers were on their way to a 58-40 win over Trinity on Tuesday afternoon.

“We came out really focused and I feel like we did a great job with the game plan defensively in the first half,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said. “He made a good adjustment at the half, going to a triangle-and-two (on Jones and fellow post player CoCo Thomas) and that slowed us down offensively, but because we weren’t playing as well offensively because of the adjustment he made, it kind of got us to where we weren’t doing exactly what we wanted to on defense. So we kind of had to regroup.”

The “Twin Towers,” as Roberson likes to call his junior tandem of post players, helped the defending 3A state champions to a 17-point lead at the half, proving almost unstoppable on offense and limiting the Wildcats to one shot defensively. 

Jones finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, scoring 20 of those points in the first half to quickly take the Wildcats out of their game plan.

“It’s a really good feeling,” she said.

Thomas had 16 points and 13 rebounds, surpassing the 1,000-point plateau in her career early in the first quarter (she now has 1,013 points) and earning most valuable player honors in the tournament after recording 50 points and 51 rebounds in three games. 

“It feels good,” she said. “I think they’re going to be the hardest team that we play. I came into this game nervous. I felt better once we got into the game.”

Interestingly enough, the strength of the Wildcats proved to be a focal point for Roberson, who trapped Emma Kate Smith and Maddie Smith, forcing the sisters to waste a lot of effort and energy working out of the trap and occasionally causing turnovers as they struggled to find open teammates.

“We didn’t know how they would defend us and they sent a lot of double teams at Emma Kate and Maddie,” Trinity coach Blake Smith said. “So what we had to try to figure out is where to put people in positions where they feel comfortable. They came out very aggressive and I don’t know that I thought they would do that against us and they did it and it caught us off guard.”

Tuesday’s game didn’t count in the standings between the two Area 6 rivals, who will face each other on Jan. 11 in Prattville and Jan. 18 at Trinity. The Wildcats’ top post player, newcomer Mya Moskowitz, sat out of Tuesday’s game as she recovered from an ankle injury, promising a different look when the two teams meet in January.

“He may not guard us like that the rest of the year,” Smith noted, “but she can flash to spots and catch it and be very aggressive with it. So she’s a little bigger target.”

Mary Alice Sasser led Trinity (13-2) with 14 points, followed by Maddie Smith with 11 and Emma Kate Smith with seven. 

For PCA (17-0), Ella Jane Connell had nine points, eight assists and four rebounds, while Kayden Carr and Sarah Williams each hit big 3 pointers in the second half to keep the Wildcats from mounting a serious rally. 

Jones and Connell joined Thomas on the all-tournament team, along with Sasser, Emma Kate Smith and St. James’ Ava Card. While Jones were the top performer in Tuesday’s game, she missed the first game of the tournament while attending a volleyball showcase, leading Roberson to vote for Thomas as the tournament MVP.

“Hannah was dominant in the two games that she played in this tournament, but she wasn’t able to play in the first game and we beat MA by six or we would have been in the loser’s bracket,” Roberson explained. “CoCo had 22 points and 27 rebounds (in the opener) and three double-doubles (in the tournament).”

Montgomery Academy 55, BTW Magnet 23

Chloe Johnson had 13 points and five assists to lead the Eagles to an easy win over BTW Magnet in the Jack Schweers Capital City Conference Tournament on Tuesday. 

Hayes Jenkins added 10 points for MA, which led 30-7 at the half. 

Montgomery Academy (6-4) will play on Monday in the Hilton Sandestin Beach Blowout at South Walton (Fla.) High School. 

G.W. Long 53, Pike Road 40 

Jazz Johnson scored 22 points for the Patriots in the Jack Schweers Capital City Conference Tournament on Tuesday at Trinity.  

Jada Roberts added 10 points for Pike Road, which travels to Huntsville for the Randolph Tournament starting on Tuesday.

27th ANNUAL JACK SCHWEERS

CAPITAL CITY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

GIRLS

Friday 

Trinity 50, Alabama Christian 21

Saturday

Trinity 2, BTW Magnet 0

Catholic 34, Pike Road 31

Prattville Christian 43, Montgomery Academy 37

St. James 49, G.W. Long 37

Monday

Trinity 66, Catholic 26

Prattville Christian 60, St. James 34

Pike Road 50, Alabama Christian 26

Montgomery Academy 52, G.W. Long 40

Tuesday

7th place -- G.W. Long 53, Pike Road 40

3rd place -- St. James 48, Catholic 47

5th place -- Montgomery Academy 55, BTW Magnet 23

Championship -- Prattville Christian 58, Trinity 40  

BOYS

Saturday

St. James 59, Pike Road 52

Trinity 64, BTW Magnet 54

Montgomery Academy 65, Alabama Christian 44

Highland Home 60, Prattville Christian 44

Monday

St. James 59, Trinity 46

Highland Home 52, Montgomery Academy 47

Pike Road 77, BTW Magnet 32

Prattville Christian 48, Alabama Christian 40

Tuesday

7th place -- BTW Magnet vs. Alabama Christian

3rd place -- Montgomery Academy 45, Trinity 42

5th place -- Pike Road 69, Prattville Christian 53

Championship -- Highland Home 46, St. James 35