CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC: Trinity girls top Catholic; PCA boys advance to championship
Trinity’s Francie Morris puts up a shot in the Wildcats’ win over Catholic in the Capital City Classic tourney. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
The Trinity girls tuned up for the finals of the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic with a surprisingly easy 62-26 rout of Catholic on Wednesday at Captain Jack Court.
Trinity quickly jumped out to a 25-8 lead and expanded it to 31 points by halftime, holding the Knights’ leading scorer, Hannah Smith, to just 10 points.
“What I appreciate the most is the girls executed what we were asking them to execute,” Trinity coach Blake Smith said. “And they did it with intensity and urgency. We want to be the team that creates the most chaos and makes people feel uncomfortable. Hannah is unbelievable but we think we have some strong players that can bump her a little bit. She’s still going to win that, but at least it can cause some resistance.”
Francie Morris led the Wildcats with 16 points, while Maddie Smith had 12 points along with 12 assists, six rebounds and three steals. Mya Moskowitz also had a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Lizzie Causey had eight points to go with seven rebounds. .
The Wildcats (11-4) will face Pleasant Grove in the finals on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. The defending 5A state champs turned up the defensive pressure on Prattville Christian Academy, holding the defending 4A state champs to nine points at halftime on the way to a 41-31 win.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Smith said. “I think, for years, we would say this is the kind of thing we’ve been good enough to compete in, with teams like we’re going to play (in the finals). Win or lose, we want to walk away with people saying, ‘Hey, that team can play.’”
Prattville Christian coach Jason Roberson, meanwhile, said his team learned some hard lessons on Wednesday.
“You’ve got to give credit to the team you’re playing,” Roberson said. “They’re very athletic. They played really hard today. They got after it defensively. We turned the ball over too much. When we had some opportunities around the basket, when we had some opportunities open from 3, they didn’t go in today. Taking nothing away from Pleasant Grove, they were no doubt the better team today.
“We had 26 turnovers. We knew if they turned us over 16, 17 times, it was going to be hard to win. We also knew if we couldn’t keep them off the offensive glass, it was going to be hard and they had 16 offensive rebounds. You have to give them credit, they came with a little more aggressive mindset to kind of take it to us in those two areas.”
The PCA boys, meanwhile, will face Trinity in the finals on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. after knocking off Class 6A Wetumpka in the semifinals.
“I think, pretty much, almost every night when we go into a varsity boys’ basketball game, we’re probably not the most athletic team on the floor,” Roberson said. “But the most athletic team doesn’t always win. We’re just really working on playing as smart as we can, paying attention to details and execute. Those are the things we really focus on. If we do that, we feel like we can give ourselves a chance to be competitive most nights.
“It’s a process. We’re slowly getting better in a lot of areas. We’re getting better at blocking out and rebounding and not giving up so many offensive rebounds. We’re getting a little better in our help-side defense. We’re getting a few more people to start taking charges. All those little things might not be as important to some teams, but they mean everything to us and our guys are slowly starting to but into those things a little more.”
BOYS
Prattville Christian 62, Wetumpka 50
Cade Segars led the Panthers with 29 points, five steals and four assists as PCA advanced to the championship game against Trinity with a 62-50 win over Class 6A Wetumpka on Wednesday.
PJ Evans added 13 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and took two charges, followed by Collier Connell with 11 points and Brady Roberson with eight points and seven rebounds and took two charges. Lathan Rybarczyk grabbed four rebounds.
PCA (7-7) will play Trinity on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Trinity 50, Gulf Shores 48
Trinity survived a last-second shot from Gulf Shores in a tightly contested semifinal matchup, advancing to the finals with a 50-48 win on Wednesday.
John Morris led the Wildcats with 13 points, followed by Cayson Keller with 11 and Cooper Bernier with eight.
Ryann Barnes led Gulf Shores with 20 points, followed by Matt Siquiero with nine and Lundon McLeod with eight.
The Wildcats will face Prattville Christian in the championship game on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Montgomery Academy 74, Catholic 55
Montgomery Academy trailed 32-26 at the half, but outscored the Knights 29-11 in the third quarter to pull away from Catholic in a 74-55 win in the second round of the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Wednesday in the Trinity gym.
Cole Caddell led Montgomery Academy with 25 points, going 7 of 11 from the 3-point line. Skyler Stovall added 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.
DJ Vinson had 15 points, 13 in the second half, along with 21 rebounds and six blocked shots. Brewer Welch added four points, four rebounds, eight assists and three steals, while Seth Edwards had four points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Montgomery Academy (10-3) will play Tallassee on Thursday in the final day of the tournament at 11:30 p.m.
Macon East Academy 42, Edgewood Academy 35
ELMORE -- Keagan Roney had 21 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and three steals to help the Knights snap a six-game losing skid and defeat the Wildcats 42-35 in the Edgewood gym on Tuesday night.
Jacob Johnson added 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals, while Omarion Wilson had five points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Macon East takes a break for Christmas, returning to action with a home game against Hooper on Jan. 4.
Lowndes Academy 53, Chambers Academy 30
LAFAYETTE -- The Rebels took a six-point lead into the second quarter, where they outscored Chambers 19-4 on the way to a 53-30 win in the Chambers gym on Tuesday.
Clayton Hussey scored 19 of his 27 points in the first half and added 14 rebounds, six steals, five assists and a blocked shot. Watters Box added 13 points and two rebounds, followed by Andrew Myers with 10 points, four rebounds and three steals. Reid Owen added two points and Will Brassell had one.
Lowndes Academy (7-3) will take a break for Christmas, returning to action on Dec. 28-29 in a holiday tournament at Clarke Prep.
GIRLS
Pleasant Grove 41, Prattville Christian 31
Kayden Carr led the Panthers with 15 points and seven rebounds as PCA struggled offensively against the aggressive press of Pleasant Grove in the Jack Schweers Capital City Classic on Wednesday.
Avery Rogers added nine points, six rebounds and four assists, followed by Jenna McClendon with four points and 13 rebounds and Ally Blankinchip with three points and four rebounds.
PCA (10-3) will play Catholic on Thursday in the consolation game at 1 p.m.
Edgewood Academy 51, Macon East Academy 30
ELMORE -- The Knights continued their road journey, venturing to Edgewood Academy on Tuesday, but came up short against the Wildcats, 51-40, in the Edgewood gym.
Casey Stengell led Macon East with 14 points, followed by Jamya Powell with 12 and Miya Tatum with 11. Macon East takes a break for Christmas, returning to action on Jan. 4 at home against Hooper t 6 p.m..
Macon East Academy 52, Autauga Academy 45
PRATTVILLE -- Casey Stengell had 20 points and three steals and Jamya Powell added 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Knights to their first victory of the season, a 52-45 win over the Generals in the Autauga gym on Monday night.
Mya Tatum followed with 11 points and five steals. Anna Watson had four points to go along with a pair of blocked shots and three steals.
29th ANNUAL JACK SCHWEERS CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC TOURNAMENT
At Trinity
BOYS
Consolation, Gulf Shores vs. Wetumpka, 3 p.m.
Finals, Trinity vs. Prattville Christian, 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS
Consolation, Catholic vs. Prattville Christian, 1 p.m.
Finals, Trinity vs. Pleasant Grove, 2:30 p.m.