CLASS 3A GIRLS CENTRAL SEMIS: Trinity romps past Randolph County; St. James eases past Sumter Central to set up rematch
Trinity's Maddie Smith shoots over Jabreia Birdsong of Randolph County in Friday’s Class 3A Central Regional semifinal at Bill Harris Arena. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
BIRMINGHAM -- There wasn’t much suspense in Trinity’s return to the Central Regional.
The Trinity girls breezed through Bill Harris Arena last year with a pair of lopsided wins on the way to the 3A state championship at Legacy Arena.
The first part of their return this season went as expected, with Trinity cruising to a 56-16 win against an overmatched Randolph County team on Friday in the 3A Central Regional semifinal.
The second part of the return comes on Wednesday with a rematch against St. James as the two teams decide the region championship at Bill Harris Arena at 12:30 p.m.
Trinity jumped out to a 21-2 lead and held Randolph County to a basket in the third quarter and another in the fourth while forcing 30 turnovers and pulling away for a 40-point win.
“You don’t always know what a team is going to do and they did a few things against our press that I thought we needed to adjust to,” Trinity coach Blake Smith said. “The girls did it, so it’s nice to come into games like this and get on the floor. That team competes, they play hard. Obviously, we were the better team but to get on the floor, have to play hard, execute your offense and play the type of defense you want to play is what you’re after and we did that.”
Mya Moskowitz hit an early 3-pointer to put the Wildcats up 9-0 and while the shooting numbers weren’t impressive from the perimeter, Trinity’s pressure defense kept their opponent from ever getting a clean look at the basket.
“I think they were scrappy,” Moskowitz said. “You can’t really predict what’s going to happen in a basketball game, so you just have to go out there and do what you know how to do. You’ve got to be ready for anything.”
Maddie Smith led Trinity (24-6) with 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals, followed by Moskowitz with 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Brantlee Wortham and Anna Grace Henderson each had five points to lead Randolph County (15-12).
The Wildcats played their fourth consecutive game without guard Francie Morris, who dressed for the game but remained on the bench as she recovers from an ankle injury.
The Wildcats also played without assistant coach Clinton Adams, who missed the game for personal reasons.
“He’s got a pretty serious sickness in his family,” Smith said. “We love him, we miss him and it wasn’t the same without him. We can’t wait to have him back.”
Morgan Lilly drives for a bucket in St. James’ win over Sumter Central in the semifinals of the AHSAA Class 3A Central Regional semifinal at Bill Harris Arena on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
St. James holds off Sumter Central to advance
BIRMINGHAM – After scoring the first nine points of the game, a lethargic St. James team found itself locked in a 17-17 tie with underdog Sumter Central in the Class 3A Central Regional semifinal at Bill Harris Arena on Friday.
The Trojans came out of the timeout scoring the next 13 points of the game to take a comfortable lead but it was never really that comfortable in the Trojans’ 55-33 win over the Jaguars.
“I think there was a flip on our team,” said St. James senior Ava Card. “I was like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to play more aggressive because they’re playing very aggressive with us.’ I think we were shying away from that because it was a different environment. Just play more aggressive and play our game.”
St. James (27-5) advanced to the 3A Central Regional championship game for the second consecutive year and will face defending state champion Trinity on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., in a rematch of last year’s regional finals.
In Friday’s game, the Trojans never really looked like a well-oiled machine, but played more efficiently in the second half to secure a 22-point win.
“We got up 9-0 then we kind of had a flat stretch,” St. James coach Katie Barton said. “We couldn’t get hold of the ball. Every loose ball, they were winning. We just challenged them. I made an adjustment defensively, too, and we just challenged them to pick up the defense and rebound harder and they responded.
“I’ve got some kids that haven’t played in this environment, so I think it’s a good game to come in and we had chance to get everybody on the floor and a chance for everybody to see it, a game where we got away without playing our best. Ava showed tremendous leadership, especially in the first half in picking up loose balls and getting buckets when we needed buckets in the first half.”
Card was the most effective player on the floor, either offensively or defensively. As the Jaguars continued to find open spaces in the paint offensively and used their aggressive defense to force the Trojans to take perimeter shots, a subtle change by Barton ensured the Trojans would have the upper hand.
“There was a time period where we weren’t moving the ball as well as we wanted to offensively,” Barton noted, “and we made an adjustment on positions on offense, a little switch, and got Ava around the rim more and she was open and they weren’t covering her as strong.”
Card had 17 points at the half and finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists, leading her team in all three categories. Natalie Barton added 12 points and three assists.
Jakyler Smith led Sumter Central with 16 points, but also had 11 of the Jaguars’ 29 turnovers.