CHAPMAN CLASSIC: Ramirez lifts MA past PCA; Pike Road tops Lanier for boys' title
Gabby Ramirez hit the game-winning free throws that set off a celebration for the Montgomery Academy Lady Eagles in the Larry Chapman Tipoff Classic on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
It hadn’t been a particularly good game for Gabby Ramirez.
The Montgomery Academy senior had missed every shot she had taken from the field and here she was, standing on the free-throw line with six-tenths of a second left and a chance to win the game.
“I was freaking out,” she admitted as she turned and faced fellow senior Madi Caddell.
“She was like, ‘You know you’re the best shooter on this team, you’ve got this, you hit one, you’ve got the next,’” Ramirez said. ‘“Don’t worry about anything around you, worry about the basket.’ That really helped me. It calmed me down.”
She nailed the first free-throw attempt, tying the game.
“Being tied, great,” Ramirez said. “But that’s not what we came here for. We came here to win.”
Her feelings might have been all over the map but her nerves were steady as she drained the second attempt as well, giving the Eagles a dramatic 48-47 win over Prattville Christian Academy in the championship game of the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tip-Off Classic at Joe Mooty Court on Wednesday afternoon.
The battle of unbeaten area rivals lived up to all the hype as Prattville Christian erased an early MA lead with strong play in the post, then withered in a fierce third-quarter rally by the Eagles, only to fight back on top in the final minute.
The Eagles took an early 7-3 lead, then went on a scoring drought for nearly eight minutes, eventually falling behind 28-15 at the half.
“We were probably thinking a little too much in the first half,” MA coach Reg Mantooth said, saying he called for “a little more fight, a little more toughness and just working a little harder. Hey, let’s go play basketball. We’re going to press them a little more and get after them and try to use our dribble and penetrate a little more offensively.”
The plan worked. PCA post players Coco Thomas and Hannah Jones, who had burned the Eagles for 14 first-half points, combined for just three in the second half. MA, which trailed 28-15 at the half, led 38-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
“It just comes down to heart,” Ramirez said. “We know we’re going to play them multiple times. Like our coach said, in the first half they wanted it more, but we knew that wasn’t true. We came out there and fought back and kept our hearts in it. No matter how much we get down, we’re going to dig ourselves out.”
The Eagles, who had burned Loachapoka and Lanier in the first two rounds of the tournament with perimeter shooting, never could find the range in Wednesday’s game but instead turned to their defense to bail them out as PCA lost their momentum in the second half.
“We cleaned it up,” Ramirez said. “Less turnovers, fighting harder on defense. We knew that if we could stop them with our defense, they would get panicked. And that’s what they did, they started turning the ball over and when we got up, they started getting frustrated. When we get up, we just can’t let them come back.”
But as MA watched, PCA went back to work and turned a four-point deficit into a one-point lead in less than two minutes. Ella Jane Connell, who had played brilliantly all game, had scored 27 points to put the Panthers back in front, but missed the front end of the one-and-one in the final minute.
Montgomery Academy missed on a pair of shots, then inbounded the ball with three seconds left to Ramirez.
“Originally, we were trying to get the ball into Gabby and then back to Chloe (Johnson), which we did,” Mantooth said. “The second time, with just three seconds left, we just wanted Gabby to have a shot or penetrate.”
It made sense to get the ball to Johnson, Caddell or Leighton Robertson, the three leading scorers, but instead it went to Ramirez, the shortest player who challenged the tallest defender, Thomas, on a drive from the left side of the floor.
“The first time we ran the play, I saw that she was backing off,” Ramirez said. “I didn’t go in and got the rebound (from a missed shot). We ran it again and I was trying to do the same thing, but I was more in a hurry because we only had three seconds and I was like, if I go out, I’m going to try and get fouled and that’s exactly what I did.”
She finished with four points, all at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. After an afternoon of frustration, she was rewarded with a victory at the end.
“Last year, I had a lot of games where I didn’t shoot well and I’d get really down on myself, but I’d watch the film and tell myself I have to stop doing that,” Ramirez said. “My teammates need me and if I get frustrated, everybody gets frustrated. Even if it’s not my day, look for Madi, look for Chloe, look for Julia (Williams). That’s what I did, just try to find the open man.”
Caddell and Johnson each had 11 points for Montgomery Academy (3-0), followed by Robertson with 10. Thomas followed Connell in scoring for PCA (7-1) with 10 points.
Robertson was named the tournament’s most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Ramirez, Johnson, Connell, Thomas, Jasmine Williams of Sidney Lanier and Renijah Brown of Marbury.
Pike Road wins boys tourney
Trey Wallace, Blake Durham and KJ Westry helped give Pike Road a lead over Sidney Lanier in the championship game of the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tip-Off Classic on Wednesday, but in the end it was an unexpected source that propelled the Patriots to victory.
Forward Jaylan Jarrett scored all eight points in the second half, including four points in the final three minutes, to help the Patriots hang on for a 59-55 win over the Poets at Joe Mooty Court on Wednesday afternoon.
The sophomore, along with Jeremiah Frazier and Vysen Lang, is part of a trio of linemen on the football team expected to provide some help in the paint for the basketball team. But Jarrett was the most dominant post player on the court in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game, repeatedly coming up with the clutch rebound while sinking four free throws in three trips to the other end of the court as the Poets attempted to rally.
He came up for us real big at the end,” Pike Road coach Robb McGaughey said. “Clutch moments, kept his cool, came up with some big rebounds, made some big free throws. It’s a team game and he stepped up. I knew he was going to give us hustle and intensity but I didn’t know he was going to come through in the clutch like that. But he’s got ice water in his veins.”
Wallace had 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter to give the Patriots an early lead but Lanier wouldn’t fold, generally keeping the game in a five-point margin that kept Pike Road in front but never comfortable with the lead.
“We needed a game like this,” McGaughey said. “That’s a good team and they’re well coached. I’m happy for (the Pike Road players) that we finished it.”
Wallace was named the tournament’s most valuable player. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Durham and Westry, Lanier’s JD Given and Juan Brown, Tyler Harris of Loachapoka and Jacob Comer of Prattville Christian Academy.
As the Poets ratcheted up their defense on Wallace in the second half, Durham and Westry became more of a factor. Durham had 13 of his 17 points in the second and third quarters, while Westry had nine of his 14 points in the second half. But it was Jarrett who proved to be the most crucial piece, coming up at the right moment for the 5A Patriots in a matchup with one of the area’s best 6A teams.
“We can compete with anybody, I feel like,” McGaughey said. “We’ve got to clean a few things up, get a little smarter and I think the more time we spend on the court – I’ve literally had three and a half practices with them – the more we get into the routine and the rhythm, the more I’m looking forward to it.”
Brown led Lanier with 14 points, followed by Elijah White with 13.
Pike Road (4-1) plays at BTW Magnet on Tuesday before returning home to play Autaugaville on Thursday.