THURSDAY PREPS: MA boys race past Catholic in Schweers Classic; St. James girls win in Auburn tourney
Skyler Stovall scoops up the loose ball in Montgomery Academy’s win over Catholic on Thursday in the Jack Schweers Classic. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
It didn’t take but a few minutes to decide the outcome of Thursday’s first-round game in the 30th annual Jack Schweers Capital City Classic between Montgomery Academy and Catholic.
The Eagles came out focused and determined, turning Catholic mistakes into points. Catholic, playing just its third game in transitioning from football, didn’t score at all in the first quarter.
Montgomery Academy raced out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and cruised into the semifinals of the tournament with a 71-26 win over the Knights at Captain Jack Court on Thursday night.
Montgomery Academy (10-1) will play Pike Road on Friday at 3 p.m., while Catholic (1-2) will play Montevallo at 3 p.m.
“I thought the energy, especially defensively that we played with early, was important to see out of our guys,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “We’ve been stressing defense here the first month or so and to see them play with that type of intensity in the full court was a big part of what happened.”
Skyler Stovall had six points and Jarrett Friendly had seven in the first quarter as the Eagles ran out to a 17-0 lead less than four minutes into the game, forcing Catholic coach Mike Curry to spend a pair of timeouts as his team was struggling to put up its first shot.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Curry said. “They’re a really good ballclub, well coached, play hard, play the right way, but regardless of the score, we knew we had a long way to go. Didn’t think it was going to be like that, but they played well and they’re a well-oiled machine right now.”
Eight different players scored for MontgomeryAcademy in the first quarter and the Eagles built a 46-6 halftime advantage.
Stovall led the Eagles with 14 points, seven steals and two rebounds, while Cade Segars came off the bench and scored 11 points, four steals and two rebounds. Friendly added 10 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists while Braden Gordon had nine points, six rebounds, two steals and five assists.
Freshman Mason Ellis added eight points, four assists, two steals and two rebounds while Seth Edwards and Will Renfroe added five points each. DJ Vinson had four points, grabbed seven rebounds and had three steals in his first action back from last weekend’s North-South All Star Football Game. Senior point guard Brewer Welch added three points, had six assists and three steals.
PJ Evans led Catholic with 11 points, scoring eight of those in the third quarter after Montgomery Academy had built a huge cushion against its Capital City Conference rival.
“Any time you play anybody in the city, especially for our guys, it’s a big deal,” Arant said. “They’re out to prove how good they are and that starts within your own city. That got them going in the beginning and they did a really good job of keeping up that intensity throughout the whole game.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
Prattville 75, Prattville Christian 64
Tanner Ehmen recorded his fifth double double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lions to a 75-64 win over Prattville Christian in the opening round of the 30th annual Jack Scweers Capital City Classic at Trinity on Thursday.
Cameron Lewis added 15 points, two steals and two rebounds, followed by Xavier Dunn with 13 points and six steals. Brayden Graham and Jordan Scott had four steals each for Prattville, which will face Trinity in the second round of the tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Cody Chapman led the Panthers with 26 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, followed by Justin Chapman with 13 points, four rebounds and four steals, Carter Fiacco with 11 points and eight rebounds and Ethan Girlie, who scored seven points and took three charges. Sam Wheeler scored three points, Wade Mora grabbed five rebounds and Murray Wright grabbed four.
PCA (3-11) will play BTW Magnet in the second round of the tournament on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Trinity 65, BTW Magnet 25
Trinity scored 19 points in the first quarter and 18 in the second to cruise to an opening round win over BTW Magnet in the 30th annual Jack Schweers Capital City Classic at Captain Jack Court on Thursday.
Trinity (9-3) will play Prattville in the second round of the tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m., while BTW Magnet will play Prattville Christian on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
John Morris had 13 points to lead the Wildcats, followed by Wilson Cherry and Brady Bennett with 11 points each and Kamari Hutson with seven points.
Hooper Academy 45, Wilcox Academy 31
GREENSBORO -- The Colts were a little sluggish early but had enough to put away Wilcox Academy in the opening round of the Southern Academy Christmas Tournament on Thursday.
The Colts use their defense to offset a slow offensive start, holding Wilcox to seven points in the first quarter and 16 points through the first three quarters.
Nolan Cole scored all 11 of his points in the first half for Hooper, with Luke Mosley adding nine and Kaleb Jackson seven as the Colts took a 28-11 lead at the half.
Abe Crosswhite led Wilcox with 12 points.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
St. James 75, Opelika 41
AUBURN -- Natalie Barton had 28 points, three rebounds, six steals and six assists to lead the Trojans to a 34-point rout of the Class 7A Bulldogs in the opening round of Auburn High’s Reindeer Rumble Tournament.
Morgan Lilly recorded a double double with 13 points and 10 assists, along with six rebounds and five steals. Jordyn McRae added 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals, followed by Kaitlin Mitchell with 10 points and three rebounds and Sydney Johnston with five points and four assists. Lily Stanford grabbed seven rebounds.
St. James (14-1) will return to action against Vestavia Hills on Friday in the second round of the tournament at 3 p.m.
Prattville Christian 62, Montgomery Academy 29
Kayden Carr scored 24 points, pulled down eight rebounds nd handed out eight assists to lead the Panthers to an opening round win in the 30th annual Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Thursday at Trinity.
Jenna McClendon added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Ally Blankinchip had seven points, six assists and four rebounds, Reagan Houston scored seven points and Kayleigh Arthur scored three points. Laney Little grabbed 13 rebounds. Chelsea Cutler had six steals and five rebounds.
PCA (10-4) will face the winner of Friday afternoon’s Catholic-G.W. Long game on Friday at 6 p.m. in the second round of the tournament.
Midfield 50, Pike Road 32
Jazmin Johnson scored 23 points to help Midfield to a 50-32 win over Pike Road in the opening round of the 30th annual Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Thursday at Trinity.
Midfield will face Trinity in the second round on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Johnson scored eight points in the first quarter as Midfield’s defense kept Pike Road from mounting any serious offensive threat. The 17-7 lead was maintained through the remainder of the first half as Johnson scored five of her team’s six points in the second quarter.
Kamiya Webb added nine points and Otiscia Towns had eight for Midfield.
Audrey Blaine led the Patriots with 12 points, scoring 10 of those in the fourth quarter. KJ Fencher added seven.
Pike Road (7-7) will face Montgomery Academy in the second round on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
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 Schedule
Game 3 -- Catholic vs. G.W. Long, 1:30 p.m.
Game 4 -- Trinity vs. Midfield, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5 -- Montgomery Academy vs. Pike Road, 4:30 p.m.
Game 6 -- Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 6 p.m.
Saturday’s Schedule
Game 7 -- Championship, Game 4 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 10:30 a.m.
Game 8 -- Fifth place, Game 5 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 10:30 a.m.
Game 9 -- Third place, Game 4 loser vs. Game 6 loser, 9 a.m.
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 Schedule
Game 5 -- Prattville vs. Trinity, 4:30 p.m.
Game 6 -- Prattville Christian vs. BTW Magnet, 7:30 p.m.
Game 7 -- Montevallo vs. Catholic, 3 p.m.
Game 8 -- Pike Road vs. Montgomery Academy, 3 p.m.
Saturday’s Schedule
Game 9 -- Championship, Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 10 -- Fifth place, Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, noon
Game 11 -- Third place, Game 5 loser vs. Game 8 loser, 1:30 p.m.
Game 12 -- Seventh place, Game 6 loser vs. Game 7 loser, noon