CLASS 4A GIRLS CENTRAL REGIONAL: PCA returns to state tourney with win over Hale County

Ally Blankenchip and the Prattville Christian Academy Panthers advanced to the Class 4A state tournament in Birmingham next week with a win over Hale County on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

BIRMINGHAM -- It was the kind of game that Ally Blankinchip could enjoy.

The shooting wasn’t there, placing a bigger emphasis on defense and rebounding. Blankinchip, all 5 foot, 3 inches of high octane energy, was ready for the challenge.

“Offense isn’t going to be there some nights,” she said. “But defense, you can always show up for that, just having that mindset of stopping the other team if we’re being stopped around the basket.”

Blankinchip and her Prattville Christian teammates earned their fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament, defeating Hale County 34-28 in the Central Regional championship game at Bill Harris Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

A day after hitting a regional record 20 3-pointers, Prattville Christian (27-7) missed their first six 3-point attempts against Hale County, made just 3 of 16 in the first half and 5 of 25 in the game. As a team, the Panthers missed all six field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, scoring just one point, but holding Hale County to just five to escape with the win.

“That was a championship game,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said. “Regional championship games are not supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to be a fight. So I told them, when you’re making 3s, it’s kind of false. This is not normal, making 20 3s in a game. And everybody’s smiling, everybody’s feeling good and everything’s easy. But the real world is not like that.

“In this game, the shots weren’t falling so we had to dig down, play defense, box out, rebound, do all the little things. I actually loved it.” 

So did Blankinchip and her four fellow starters, who played all 32 minutes without a break, holding Hale County to just 11 of 41 (26.8 percent) from the field. For her efforts, the junior was named the regional most valuable player.

“I didn’t expect it at all,” she admitted. “I know we have Avery (Rogers) and Kayden (Carr), our shooters, and I don’t score that much. I’m also really small.”

But small didn’t matter on this particular day as the smallest player on the court pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, displaying a knack for great timing and positioning in helping her team get valuable second and third shots on a night where no player’s first shot seemed to connect.  

“I know we have the goal of getting to the Final Four,” Blankinchip said. “When (PCA forward) Jenna (McClendon) got hurt, we could either go down or we could go up, but we would have to have people step up. I felt like, as a junior leader, I was going to do everything in my power to step up and help the team out.”

Roberson was proud Blankinchip’s 26-rebound effort in the regionals was recognized.

 “Ally means the world to this team,” he said. “Sometimes, she doesn’t understand how much she means to the team. She’s hard on herself sometimes, that’s what makes her great, but a lot of times she doesn’t understand the impact she has on this team. What she has done since Jenna McClendon went out with an ACL tear (in mid-January) is step her game up to a completely different level. 

“We’ve asked her to handle the ball more. She’s always been unbelievable on defense. Jenna was leading our team with 10 rebounds a game and Ally got 13 rebounds in the regional semifinal and 13 rebounds in a regional championship game at 5-foot-3. It’s just amazing what she’s done to raise her level of play for our team.”

 After the Panthers broke an 8-8 tie, the game never seemed in doubt despite PCA’s offensive struggles because of defense and rebounding. Carr hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter to finish with a game-high 13 points and stake her team to a 10-point lead. It wasn’t pretty, but the Panthers found other ways to secure the victory.

“It showed the character of our ladies, how they were willing to win in a different way,” Roberson said. “So we can win by making a lot of shots and it looks pretty. And we can win an ugly rock fight, too.”

The Panthers will face Good Hope (31-2) in the state semifinals on Tuesday in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena at 3 p.m. PCA will be making its fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament and the sixth in the program’s 12-year history as an Alabama High School Athletic Association member.

“Each year is a new year,” Roberson said. “We’ve had unbelievable players in this program -- Ella Jane Connell and CoCo Thomas and Hannah Jones have carried us for so long. Jenna McClendon is one of our better players and she goes out with an injury. Our team could have folded, to be honest with you. The ones who were able to play rallied around each other, we kept working hard, we kept the belief that we could do something like this. I’m just so proud of them. It doesn’t get old.”