GIRLS HOOPS: MA snaps losing streak; Catholic rolls past Greenville

LAMP forward Ariana Cannida shoots over MA’s Kirsten Daniel in the Lady Eagles’ win on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

In a season where so much has gone wrong, something finally went right for Montgomery Academy.

Kirsten Daniel sank a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left to help the Eagles rally from an 11-point deficit and defeat LAMP 39-38 in the LAMP gym on Tuesday night to snap a 10-game losing streak.

“We challenged our team to keep working, keep improving,” Mantooth said. “We knew a lot of our improvement may not show up in wins and losses but we just wanted to try to keep improving. I think the last three or four games, we have improved. You can’t tell it on the scoreboard when you’re playing Trinity and PCA, but we have gotten better at things.

“This was a game we thought we had a chance to win. It’s big for our girls to get a win. They’ve had a tough season but they stuck together.”

In a game where everything had to fall their way, the poor-shooting Eagles finally hit some free throws, while the Golden Tigers missed a few that could have closed the door. Montgomery Academy had six turnovers in the final four minutes, but LAMP had four, again leaving the door ajar for an upset.

LAMP, leading 31-20 at the start of the final quarter, watched the lead shrink to a basket with five minutes remaining, then appeared to secure the win with a 5-1 run. But the Eagles came back again, using a Caroline Waller shot from the baseline with 2:04 remaining. Jai Raines’ putback of a Waller miss for her only points of the night tied the game with 62 seconds remaining.

Ariana Cannida, whose eight points in the second quarter had seemingly put the Golden Tigers in control, made the second of two free-throw attempts with 5.8 seconds remaining. Mantooth called timeout and drew up a play that worked to perfection as Waller took a pass at midcourt, turned and found Daniel all by herself under the goal.

“That’s our old ‘late game special,’” Mantooth said. “We tried to hit them in the middle and they’re supposed to hit one of our guards streaking to the basket, but when we screened in the middle they (LAMP defenders) both went to the ball and she was wide open.”

Montgomery Academy, a poor-shooting team at the line all year, had hit just 3 of 9 attempts in the first three quarters, but was 4 of 6 in the final eight minutes. Daniel, who hit just 2 of 5 attempts in the first three quarters, sank both attempts when it counted the most.

 “We missed a bunch of free throws early that hurt us,” Mantooth said. “For Kirsten, who has been out a lot this year, she’s been injured, that was big for her to step up there and make two free throws.”

Waller led the Eagles with 16 points, followed by Sophia Cho with eight. Cannida led LAMP with 15 points, followed by Grayson Dickert with 11.

The Golden Tigers played the game without head coach Michael Thornton, who was home with an illness.

Montgomery Academy (2-19) travels to Wetumpka on Thursday before facing Trinity in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament at Trinity on Monday.

LAMP (16-12) travels to Brew Tech on Friday before playing Booker T. Washington in the opening round of the 4A Area 4 tournament at Catholic on Tuesday. 

St. James 47, Prattville Christian 39

PRATTVILLE -- Ava Card scored 21 points to lead the Trojans to a 47-39 win over Prattville Christian Academy in the PCA gym on Tuesday.

KK Hall added 12 points, followed by KK Corley with seven as St. James won its fourth game in the last five outings and snapped the Panthers’ nine-game winning streak.

Hannah Jones led the Lady Panthers with 16 points and 10 rebounds, followed by CoCo Thomas with 10 points and seven rebounds, Jenna McClendon with seven points and Avery Rogers with six points and four assists. Kayden Carr had six assists and six steals.

PCA (25-3) will travel to Brew Tech on Thursday before returning home to host the 4A Area 5 tournament next week.

St. James (20-7) will play host to Marbury on Friday before traveling to Trinity on Monday to play Alabama Christian Academy in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament.

Catholic 63, Greenville 52

Tha Knights rallied from a two-point deficit with an 18-6 run in the second quarter, then held off the 5A Tigers down the stretch to win their final regular season game in the Catholic gym on Tuesday night.

Hannah Smith led the Knights with 22 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and three blocks, followed by Allyse Rudolph with 14 points five rebounds, five assists and three steals, Heaven Bailey with 14 points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals and Andy Aiken with nine points, three rebounds and four assists.

Catholic (22-7) closed out the regular season on a five-game winning streak and will face Bullock County in the opening round of the 4A Area 4 tournament at home on Tuesday.

Alabama Christian 72, Ellwood Christian 29

Rachel Rine had 19 points, 12 rebounds, eight steals and seven assists to help the Eagles to a season-high 72 points in a rout of Ellwood Christian on Tuesday in the ACA gym.

Katelyn Sutton added 13 points and four steals, followed by Jaide Newkirk with 11 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of steals and Campbell Hammett with 11 points and two rebounds. Izzy Warrick added nine points and Marcy Gregory had seven.

Latavia Williams scored 15 points, followed by Kweli Rose with 13.

Alabama Christian (10-13) travels to Notasulga on Thursday and plays host to Pike Liberal Arts on Friday before facing St. James in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament on Monday at Trinity.

Lakeside School 64, Macon East Academy 28

CECIL -- Chloe Helms scored 26 points as the Chiefs built a 36-10 halftime lead and cruised to a 36-point win over the Knights on Monday in the Macon East gym.

Eliza Eriksen added 15 points, followed by Jayden Green with 11 for Lakeside (11-9), which will play host to the winner of a first-round playoff game in the AISA Class AA quarterfinals on Monday.