GIRLS 4A SEMIS: PCA back in championship after win over New Hope

PCA celebrates the victory over New Hope in the Class 4A semis at the Legacy Arena on Tuesday (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

BIRMINGHAM -- It wasn’t the way Jason Roberson would have drawn up the performance of his Prattville Christian Academy team.

The defensive specialist led the team in shooting, the team’s leading scorer was held to half her average, the point guard was in foul trouble and the top perimeter shooter only sank one field goal. Still, Roberson could overlook the issues and appreciate the end result as the Panthers defeated New Hope 52-37 in the 4A semifinals at Legacy Arena on Tuesday night.

“We take what the other team gives us,” Roberson said. “We trust all our players. If we’re open, we’re going to take them because we believe they’re going to go in. Then they had to adjust a little bit and we got back to some of our stuff, but they did a great job of taking Avery (Rogers) away. We did our best to try and take (Kaylee) Yarbrough away.

“We believe in every single one of our players. ‘Five’ (Ally Blankinchip) stepped up and hit four big 3s for us when we needed them.”

Blankinchip’s perimeter shooting and the inside play of CoCo Thomas propelled the Panthers into the finals for the fourth time but the first as a Class 4A team. PCA also reached the championship game in 2A (2013) and 3A (2021 and 2022). 

“I’m super proud of my kids,” New Hope coach Craig McGill said. “I thought they laid it on the line, I thought they gave it everything they had. I told them yesterday, ‘if we lose, let’s make sure they’re a better team.’ They’re not the two-time defending state champion for no reason.”

PCA (33-3) will play Priceville (23-9) for the 4A state championship on Friday at Legacy Arena at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs defeated UMS-Wright 56-36 earlier in the day.

“If you can come out of a regional with Good Hope and Deshler, you’re probably the best team in 4A,” Roberson said of Friday’s opponent. “So we’ll go in as the underdog and see if we can hang with them. They’re a mighty good team.”

So was New Hope, but the Indians struggled to find any offensive rhythm against the PCA defense, particularly against a zone defense that utilized the play of Thomas at the tip of the defense against the smaller New Hope guards. New Hope hit just 3 of 20 shots in the first half but trailed by just eight points (24-16) because of the Indians’ defensive performance.

“We couldn’t run anything that we normally run against that (zone),” McGill said. “We prepared for it for three days with the (New Hope) boys. We had our big boys in there. Somehow, those (PCA) girls just played a little different than our boys did.”

New Hope shadowed Rogers all night and the PCA perimeter shooter managed just one field goal (although that 3-pointer with 5:55 remaining extended a lead back to nine points). With point guard Kayden Carr sitting out the final six minutes of the first half with three personal fouls, Hannah Jones struggling against the New Hope defense collapsing on her and Rogers taking just one shot in the first half, it fell on Blankinchip to provide the offensive spark.

Her second 3-pointer broke an 11-11 tie and helped ease some of the defense concentrating on Jones and Thomas. She hit two more midway through the third quarter to extend the lead to nine points. While the sophomore took an astounding 17 3-point shots and hit just four, her 12 points was crucial in building a lead for the Panthers. 

“I knew it was going to be a challenge for me mentally,” she said. “They were just leaving me open and it’s up to me, nobody else. I’ve got to take over.”

From there, as Roberson noted, things returned to “normal” for PCA, which meant a steady diet of Jones and Thomas. Thomas had 20 points and 19 rebounds, while Jones had 10 points and 14 rebounds, combining for eight more rebounds than the entire New Hope team and almost as many points as the Indians combined. 

“Jones and CoCo, they’re studs,” McGill said. “CoCo is going to Shelton State, the best juco (program) in the state … and Hannah could if she wanted to. You’re playing two college basketball players who are 6-foot-3, 6-4, and we don’t have anybody over 5-10, 5-11. I just thought we fought and that’s all I asked.”

Lauren Busbey led New Hope (23-5) with 13 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots, followed by Yarbrough with 12 points and Jada Bates with 10 points and six rebounds.