AISA CLASS AA SEMIS: Autauga Academy tops Patrician, one 'rung' away from state title; Edgewood girls win
Autauga Academy’s Pharrell Banks drives past Patrician’s Dalton Bracknell in the Generals’ win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By GRAHAM DUNN
The Autauga Academy boys put their undefeated record on the line on Friday, knowing a little bit about their opponent, Patrician.
Oddly, the Saints may have been in the dark about the Generals’ style of play.
In a somewhat uncharacteristic fashion, the Generals moved a step closer to a perfect season and a state championship with a 63-46 win over Patrician in the Class AA semifinals at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex.
The Generals improved to 17-0 and earned a berth in the state championship where they will face Chambers Academy on Monday at 2 p.m.
“We knew this would be a test,” Autauga coach William Turner said. “We really hadn’t faced a team like this and you look at their record (16-3) and you are impressed with the way they shoot the ball. They had a really good team.”
Autauga Academy was prepared for the zone defense Patrician would play, even if that meant more shots from the outside. But the Saints may have gotten a surprise of their own when the Generals proved they could beat you in more ways than dumping the ball inside.
“If they watched us last game (in the win over Lowndes Academy), we took just three shots behind the arc,” Turner said. “We had to make adjustments and get used to a slower pace. We like to get it to the basket with A.J. (Perry) and Rob (Rose) but we will take some 3s if they are available.”
While Patrician was known for long-range shooting (they shot 20 times from 3-Land in Friday’s loss) it was Autauga doing the damage from behind the arc, hitting 9 of 18 including three straight to pull away in the second quarter.
“We can shoot them when we need them,” Rose said. “We knew this would be a test with how (Patrician) shoots the ball. We thought they might come out and zone us which they did so we had chances to take some shots, unlike the last game.”
The Generals also forced 18 turnovers in the game which played a role in building as much as a 19-point lead in the second half.
“We have to play good defense for our style of play to work,” Perry said. “We were prepared for what they were going to do. We trusted our teammates to make plays on the defensive end, which led to some easy points.”
Perry and Rose each finished with 22 points to pace the Autauga scoring. Perry had six made 3-pointers while Rose had two. Josh Palmer also reached double figures with 10 points.
Tyler Lewis led Patrician with 13 points.
Using the metaphoric ladder rungs to count the steps to a title, Turner has the Generals on the brink of history for the school. A state title is within reach.
“We have tried not to get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “We’ve talked about the next rung on the ladder and so far, we’ve been able move up but we also are high up and a fall at this point would be a catastrophe. So, one more step from what we want to accomplish.”
Edgewood girls move a step closer to title
Eight months ago, during summer workouts, Edgewood Academy coach Jason Fisher set goals for his girls’ basketball team.
“The one goal we made in the summer is we wanted to be standing with a state championship trophy at the end of the year,” Fisher said. “We’re one game away.”
The Wildcats (23-6) got to the Class AA finals with a strong second-half performance against South Choctaw Academy in a 46-34 victory in the Alabama Independent School Association AA semifinals on Friday at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
Now, only Sparta Academy (23-3) stands in the way of Edgewood as the Wildcats play for a state championship on Monday at noon at the Multiplex. And while it might have been all coach-speak for lofty goals back in the summer, the players certainly believed.
“It feels amazing,” said Edgewood’s sensational sophomore, Lindsey Brown. “I’ve always wanted to be that team that makes history, be that one team that does everything that no one else could ever do. The last time we made a final four was 1990 and now we’re back here again and we punched through tonight. I’m so proud of our girls right now.”
Edgewood kept pace with the Rebels for much of the first half despite Brown getting two quick personal fouls that threatened to ruin the Wildcats’ dreams of advancing.
“It kind of made me change my ideas of what to do defensively and offensively,” Fisher said, “but the performance Jaylyn Strength had last Wednesday night (in the AA quarterfinals against Lowndes), I knew we were going to be OK because she is very confident in handling the basketball.”
Strength took over that role and Fisher was careful to put Brown back in for short stretches the remainder of the first half, never letting her get too tired to commit any sluggish plays on defense that would result in a third personal foul.
“I had to slow down my adrenalin a little,” Brown said. “At the beginning of the game, everything was happy, everything was going so fast, but I wasn’t getting there fast enough and we had to slow it down a bit. But when I go fast, my team goes fast; when I go slow, my team goes slow. It was a good decision by Coach Fisher.”
In the second half, the Wildcats resumed their normal play and pulled away from a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
“We decided at halftime to work together and fly around on defense,” Brown said. “I’m just so proud of my team right there. This is the first time in history to go to the championship and we just agreed at halftime to fly around and play for each other.”
Brown finished with 22 points, followed by Kennedy Mensch with nine and Madison Martin with eight.
Claire Taylor led South Choctaw with 10 points, followed by Marlee Williams with nine.
It may have been coach-speak then, but the Wildcats are one win away from making last June’s goal a reality.
“After Christmas, I started believing, hey, we’ve got a shot at this,” Fisher said.
“We’ve worked really hard since October and November,” Brown said. “We just jelled really quick. We’re all best friends with each other and we just love basketball and playing together. It’s amazing.”