WEEKEND HOOPS: MA boys reach finals of Panama City tourney
COMBINED REPORTS
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hooper Academy 67, Build UP Birmingham 33
HOPE HULL -- Luke Moseley scored 17 points in the first quarter to lead the undefeated Colts past the first-year Timberwolves 67-33 at Darrell Self Gym on Saturday.
Moseley finished with 21 points as Hooper outscored Build UP 35-11 in the first quarter and led 49-20 at the half.
Nolan Cole and Tre Davenport each added seven points, followed by Slade Russell and Jeremy Griggs with six points each.
Hooper Academy (13-0) will be home next week, playing Sparta Academy on Monday, followed by Macon East Academy on Friday.
Build UP Birmingham will return to action on Jan. 2 with a home game against Bessemer Academy.
Montgomery Academy 76, Maine-Endwell (N.Y.) 53
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- Montgomery Academy shook off a slow start and overcame an 11-point deficit with a 32-point second quarter on the way to a 76-53 win over Maine-Endwell in the semifinals of the Marlin Christmas Classic at Arnold High on Saturday afternoon.
Montgomery Academy (14-1) posted its ninth straight win in the process and will advance to Monday’s championship game.
Skyler Stovall had 21 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists as the Eagles rallied from a 24-13 deficit with a 32-8 run over the Spartans to take a 45-32 lead into the locker room at the half.
Braden Gordon added 14 points, five rebounds and two steals for the Eagles, followed by DJ Vinson with 12 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots. Mason Ellis added seven points, four rebounds and four assists, Cade Segars had five points and three rebounds, Graham Martin had four points and six rebounds and Brewer Welch had three points, six assists, four steals and five rebounds.
Dallas County 64, LAMP 43
BILLINGSLEY -- Coby Carter hit four 3-pointers in the third quarter to break a 29-29 halftime tie and give the Hornets the championship of the Winter Challenge Basketball Tournament in the Billingsley gym on Saturday afternoon.
Carter finished with 22 points as all but one came on seven 3-pointers. Four of those came on an 18-6 run in the third quarter that gave the Hornets the tournament title. Myles Nix added 17, followed by Joshua Davis with 11.
Ezekial Griffin led LAMP with 17 points, followed by Benedict Akwuba with 12. Both players, along with teammate TJ English, were named to the all-tournament team.
LAMP (7-8) will take off for New Year’s before playing a pair of home games against Beauregard on Jan. 3 and Ellwood Christian on Jan. 4.
Dallas County will return home to play host to St. James in a 3A Area 5 matchup on Jan. 7.
Pisgah 64, Prattville Christian 51
GUNTERSVILLE -- Cody Chapman had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven steals for PCA in the Panthers’ 64-51 loss to Pisgah in a Christmas tournament on Saturday.
Ethan Girlie added seven points, five assists and four rebounds, followed by Justin Chapman with five points and nine rebounds and Wade Mora with four points and five rebounds. Carter Fiacco scored four points and Sam Wheeler scored three points. Easton Miller grabbed four rebounds.
PCA (4-15) returns home to play host to American Christian in an area game on Saturday, Jan. 4.
Evangel Christian 56, Southwest Georgia 38
EUFAULA -- Jordan Duncan led all scorers with 15 points to propel Evangel Christian to the win over Southwest Georgia Academy in the semifinals of the Shoemaker-Ward Holiday Invitational Tournament on Saturday afternoon in the Lakeside gym.
Duncan finished with two assists and four steals to go with his 15 points. Mekhi Williams had 11 points, two assists, three steals and grabbed two rebounds. Desi Stovall chipped in eight points, 10 rebounds and one assist while Tylon Shine added eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The Lions (10-1) will face Abbeville Christian in the championship game on Monday at 1:30 p.m.
LAMP 42, Billingsley 16
BILLINGSLEY -- LAMP placed three players in double figures and jumped on Billingsley early to defeat the Bears 42-16 in the opening round of the Winter Challenge Basketball Tournament in the Billingsley gym on Friday.
The Golden Tigers jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter and led 24-7 at the half. Ezekial Griffin hit 3 of 7 shots from beyond the 3-point arc and finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
TJ English added 11 points with six steals and Benedict Akwuba had 11 points and five rebounds. Johnny Henig led the rebounding effort with seven.
Kyle Boice led the Bears with six points.
Montgomery Academy 66, Cookeville (Tenn.) 59 (OT)
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- Montgomery Academy outscored Cookeville 11-4 in overtime to win its opening round game in the Marlin Christmas Classic hosted by Arnold High School.
Skyler Stovall led the Eagles with 25 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists. Braden Gordon added 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal, while DJ Vinson added eight points, 15 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
Sardis 62, Prattville Christian 50
GUNTERSVILLE -- Ethan Girlie led the Panthers with 12 points and five assists in an opening round loss to Sardis in a Christmas tournament on Friday.
Carter Fiacco added 12 points, followed by Cody Chapman with nine. Justin Chapman added six points and seven rebounds, while Sam Wheeler scored five points and Wade Mora had four points and seven rebounds. Easton Miller grabbed seven rebounds.
Alexandria 65, Prattville Christian 30
GUNTERSVILLE -- Cody Chapman scored 14 points for the Panthers in a second-round loss to Alexandria in a Christmas tournament on Friday.
Justin Chapman added six points and six rebounds, followed by Ethan Girlie with five points and Wade Mora with three points and six rebounds. Murray Wright grabbed five rebounds.
Catholic 60, New Brockton 43
MJ Belser had 26 points, 10 rebounds and two steals to lead the Knights to a 60-43 win over New Brockton in Park Crossing’s Christmas tournament on Friday.
PJ Evans added nine points, eight rebounds and two steals, followed by Mylez Gourdine with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Catholic (3-3) will return to action on Jan. 3 with an area game at Booker T. Washington.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
St. James 65, Florence 58
HUNTSVILLE -- Natalie Barton and Morgan Lilly each scored 18 points and dished out six assists to lead the Trojans to a win over Class 7A Florence in the Falcon Christmas Classic at the John Paul II gym on Saturday morning.
Kaden Fair and Lily Stanford both added eight points each, followed by Jordyn McRae with seven points and 11 rebounds.
The Trojans (18-2) will take a break for New Year’s, then resume play with 3A Area 5 games at Dallas County on Jan. 7 and Montgomery Academy on Jan. 10.
Montgomery Academy 50, Cottage Hill Christian 27
Sophia Cho had 14 points, five assists, five steals and six rebounds to lead Montgomery Academy to a 50-27 win over Cottage Hill in the consolation game of the MA Eagle Holiday Classic at Joe Mooty Court on Saturday afternoon.
Kaci Armistead added 13 points, five steals, three assists, and two rebounds, followed by Garland Thomas with 10 points, five steals, two rebounds and an assist. Caroline Waller had eight points on the day but created additional possessions for the Eagles with four steals and three deflections that led to steals, along with a blocked shot.
Selma defeated Wetumpka 44-41 in the championship game to win the first-ever tournament.
Montgomery Academy (4-10) will return to action in Huntsville with a game against Whitesburg Christian Academy on Jan. 2 and Class 7A Huntsville High in Jan. 3.
Evangel Christian 49, Lakeside School 22
EUFAULA -- Erica Burton scored 21 points to lead the Lions past the Chiefs in the opening round of the Shoemaker Tournament on Shoemaker Court on Saturday.
Loreal Lewis added nine points for Evangel, followed by AK Davis with eight.
Evangel Christian Academy (9-3) returns to Eufaula on Monday to play in the championship game of the tournament against Southwest Georgia Academy.
Sardis 73, Prattville Christian 67
GUNTERSVILLE -- Kayden Carr had 24 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists to lead the Panthers in a 73-67 loss to Sardis in Saturday’s Christmas tournament action.
Jenna McClendon added 19 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Reagan Houston with 11 points and Ally Blankinchip with 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Baylee Rogers added three points. PCA (11-8) returns home to play host to American Christian in an area game on Saturday, Jan. 4.
St. James 68, Section 29
HUNTSVILLE -- Natalie Barton scored 27 points, grabbed six rebounds and seven steals and dished out eight assists to lead the Trojans to a 39-point win over Section in the second game of the Falcon Christmas Classic at John Paul II gym on Friday night.
Kaitlin Mitchell added 13 points, Morgan Lilly had 12 points and four assists and Jordyn McRae chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.
St. James 46, Madison Academy 43
HUNTSVILLE -- Kaitlin Mitchell had a double double of 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Trojans past Madison Academy in the opening round of the Falcon Christmas Classic at John Paul II gym on Friday.
Morgan Lilly added 12 points and six rebounds for St. James (16-2).
Selma 55, Montgomery Academy 35
Eighth grader Garland Thomas led Montgomery Academy with 10 points, two rebounds and an assist in the Eagles’ opening round game of the Eagle Holiday Classic against Class 5A Selma at Montgomery Academy’s Joe Mooty Court on Friday afternoon.
Sophomore EG Hines added seven points, four rebounds and a pair of steals, while seniors Sophia Cho and Caroline Waller each had five points each. Cho also had two steals and an assist, while Waller had three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore Kaci Armistead also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Eagles, while senior Olivia Smith grabbed five rebounds.
Selma was paced by Rod’Neisha Parker with 18 points, followed by Safiysa White with 14 and Jykierra Oliver with 13.
Prattville Christian 61, West Point 54
GUNTERSVILLE -- Kayden Carr led the Lady Panthers with 25 points and six rebounds as PCA defeated West Point in the opening round of a Christmas tournament on Friday.
Jenna McClendon added 21 points and 19 rebounds, followed by Ally Blankinchip with seven points, four assists and four rebounds and Baylee Rogers with six points and seven assists. Reagan Houston scored three points and Laney Little grabbed four rebounds.
Decatur Heritage 59, Prattville Christian 48
GUNTERSVILLE -- Kayden Carr had 21 points and six rebounds in PCA’s loss to Decatur Heritage Christian in the second round of the Christmas tournament on Friday.
Jenna McClendon added 19 points and 14 rebounds, followed by Baylee Rogers and Reagan Houston with three points each. Ally Blankinchip had six rebounds and five assists.