SCHWEERS CLASSIC: Smith sets Trinity scoring record while leading Wildcats to tourney championship

Trinity Maddie Smith dribbles past Heaven Bailey in the finals of the girls Schweers Classic on Saturday. Smith became Trinity’s all-time leading scorer in the win. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

A timeout with 6.1 seconds remaining gave Trinity coach Blake Smith an opportunity to plan for the last shot but everyone in the arena assumed Maddie Smith would be the one taking the shot.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to let Maddie do what Maddie wants to do,” Blake Smith said. “We had the spacing we wanted, the screens we wanted and then it’s a matter of Maddie reading it. If she threw it to somebody in the corner that was wide open, she was free to do that. But she knew we wanted her aggressive, so if she could get space, it was for her to take it.”

Smith put up a floater in the lane with two seconds left, getting a favorable bounce off the front of the rim to give the Wildcats a 43-42 win over Catholic in the championship game of the 30th annual Jack Schweers Capital City Classic at Captain Jack Court on Saturday morning.

While Blake Smith knew what he was thinking as time ran out, his daughter couldn’t remember.

“I don’t even know,” she said. “I feel like you just block it out and go. I remember it hit the front of the rim and then just rolled in. I was so relieved and happy that we got it in and executed somewhat how we wanted to.”

Maddie Smith finished the game with 16 points, but the game-winning shot was her only points in the second half.

“We knew she was going to take it,” Catholic coach Jill Clark said. “She’s their go-to player. She had to take a tough shot and she did. We had good defense on her, she just made the shot she had to make. Give her credit. She made it.”

As part of Saturday’s win, Smith knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to even the score with Catholic at 6-6, to give her the record for most points scored in Trinity basketball history. After the show, play was stopped to recognize the senior as the all-time leading scorer in Trinity basketball.

“She didn’t know,” Blake Smith said. “I don’t think she liked me doing it, to be honest with you. What did you say?”

“It distracted me,” Maddie Smith said. “I missed my next shot.”

For the second straight day, Trinity was forced to play without starters Mya Moskowitz, who was battling an illness, and Francie Morris, who was sidelined with an injury. That put an added value on each possession for the Wildcat offense.

“Look, we don’t want to do anything without Mya and Francie,” Blake Smith said, “but I think with (the current lineup) to scrap and fight and pull it off, there is obviously something gratifying about that, just to see them execute what we wanted them to execute, to make mistakes and keep playing. I thought we held our composure better today -- and that’s me, too -- which is a sign of maturity.”

Maddie Smith scored the Wildcats’ first six points, then worked on distributing the ball to a more patient version of the Trinity offense that tried to line up open looks on the perimeter.

“We’ve definitely improved on (playing without Moskowitz and Morris),” Maddie Smith said. “That is very good for us because last year, in the final four, Francie fouled out so this is very good preparation for the postseason because we don’t know what’s going to happen -- injuries, fouls and that kind of thing.

“Now, obviously, we don’t want them hurt or sick, but it definitely is better for the girls and me to learn how to play without them in case that scenario comes up again. It’s definitely less of the other girls attacking and me attacking and kicking it to them. So it’ll be nice when Mya and Francie get back for me to spot up some and let them attack and do their thing.”

For Trinity to win, however, the Wildcat defense would need to contain the Knights’ leading scorer, Hannah Smith. A three-point play by Maddie Smith helped the Wildcats rally from a five-point deficit midway through the second quarter, but the Wildcats got another boost moments later when Hannah Smith was called for charging and picked up her third personal foul when she ran into Maddie Smith.

“That hurt,” Clark said. “That was the big difference in last night’s game (a win over Prattville Christian) and today’s game. She stayed in the game and she can be aggressive. It changes what we can do when she gets in foul trouble.”

Ellie Causey hit six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 18 points, including three 3-pointers in the third quarter that staked the Wildcats to a six-point lead.

“No. 22 (Causey) was on fire, especially in the second half,” Clark said. “I don’t think she missed a shot. We didn’t do a very good job of stopping her like we needed to.”

Still, there wasn’t enough offense from the Wildcats to maintain the lead. Hannah Smith had 13 points, including a crucial 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter that gave Catholic a four-point lead, and Heaven Bailey added 11 points, including four in the third quarter and five more in the fourth.

Armed with a lead, the Knights tried to stall and went into the final minute with a one-point lead.

“We weren’t trying to shoot unless we had an uncontested layup,” Clark said. “We were trying to just hold the ball because if they don’t have it, they can’t do anything with it.”

Blake Smith was careful not to foul Hannah Smith or Bailey and got his break with 15 seconds remaining when a pair of missed free-throw attempts set the stage for Maddie Smith’s game-winning shot.

“We do a scramble drill in practice every day,” Maddie Smith said. “We were somewhat prepared -- now I don’t think we necessarily executed it perfectly today -- but I think we were prepared for that situation to get it back from the other team. We did it fairly good, considering that we won. I was definitely proud. At the beginning of the season, we had some close games and we could never get over the hump and win them, so I was proud of how we were down and we somehow managed to get the ball back and win.”

30TH ANNUAL JACK SCHWEERS CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC

GIRLS

Thursday’s Results

Game 1 -- Prattville Christian 62, Montgomery Academy 29

Game 2 -- Midfield 50, Pike Road 32

Friday’s Results

Game 3 -- Catholic 66, G.W. Long 25

Game 4 -- Trinity 33, Midfield 32

Game 5 -- Pike Road 58, Montgomery Academy 27

Game 6 -- Catholic 53, Prattville Christian 37 

Saturday’s Results

Game 7 -- Championship, Trinity 43, Catholic 42

Game 8 -- Fifth place, Montgomery Academy 32, G.W. Long 30

Game 9 -- Third place, Midfield 63, Prattville Christian 44