SCHWEERS CLASSIC: Trinity tops Prattville to advance to tourney championship
Prattville’s Cameron Lewis drives on Trinity's Persson Clements in the Wildcats’ win over the Lions on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
BY TIM GAYLE
Both teams struggled to find any offensive rhythm but Trinity found enough transition points to hold off Prattville 62-50 on Friday and advance to the championship game of the 30th annual Jack Schweers Capital City Classic at Trinity’s Captain Jack Court.
Trinity (10-3) will play Montgomery Academy (11-1) for the title on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Eagles defeated the Wildcats 64-56 a week ago.
It wasn’t easy in the beginning, but Trinity managed to convert enough Prattville mistakes into easy baskets to build a 20-point lead until the Lions rallied late to make things interesting.
“We weren’t very efficient offensively, really all night,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “Defensively, I thought we did some good things but we were undisciplined with some of our game plan. In the second half, I thought we lost our edge. We weren’t playing with the same edge. We quit pressing and maybe that affected our overall mentality.”
The Wildcats and Lions were fairly even for the first five minutes of the game before Trinity pulled away for a 16-7 lead, then extended the lead to 20 points (34-14) at the half as Brady Bennett and John Morris each scored nine points in the first half.
“The first thing we talked about when we went in at halftime is how that’s just one half, Prattville was down double digits yesterday (to Prattville Christian) and won by double digits,” Arrighi said. “We spent the time talking about that, but we lost our edge for whatever reason.
“I feel like the guys did a good job in spacing to take advantage of (Prattville’s) aggressive press and halfcourt trap and we got some easy buckets off of executing press break or trap offense.”
Morris led the Wildcats with 16 points, followed by Bennett with 11 and Persson Clements with eight.
“We missed our shots in the first half and that really hurts when you’re not making shots and they’re settling for 3-point shots,” Prattville coach Jason Fisher said. “Tip my hat to Trinity’s coaches and players, they drove to the lane and were getting easy layups and free throws.
“Our transition defense is a work in progress. We have to mix it up -- some fullcourt man, some halfcourt man just to make sure we don’t give up easy transition baskets.”
Cameron Lewis led Prattville (5-12) with 24 points, followed by Tyler Smith with nine. The Lions will play Pike Road on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for third place in the tournament.
30TH ANNUAL JACK SCHWEERS CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC
BOYS
Thursday’s Results
Game 1 -- Prattville 75, Prattville Christian 68
Game 2 -- Trinity 65, BTW Magnet 25
Game 3 -- Pike Road 71, Montevallo 65
Game 4 -- Montgomery Academy 71, Catholic 26
Friday’s Results
Game 5 -- Trinity 62, Prattville 50
Game 6 -- Prattville Christian 44, BTW Magnet 41
Game 7 -- Montevallo 42, Catholic 40
Game 8 -- Montgomery Academy 84, Pike Road 71
Saturday’s Schedule
Game 9 -- Championship, Trinity vs. Montgomery Academy, 1:30 p.m.
Game 10 -- Fifth place, Prattville Christian vs. Montevallo, noon
Game 11 -- Third place, Prattville vs. Pike Road, 1:30 p.m.
Game 12 -- Seventh place, BTW Magnet vs. Catholic, noon
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 00, Montgomery Academy 00
Game 6 -- Catholic 53, Prattville Christian 37
Saturday’s Schedule
Game 7 -- Championship, Trinity vs. Catholic, 10:30 a.m.
Game 8 -- Fifth place, Pike Road vs. G.W. Long, 10:30 a.m.
Game 9 -- Third place, Midfield vs. Prattville Christian, 9 a.m.