PREP PLAYOFFS: MA girls handle PCA; Tallassee boys top Pike Road in OT

PCA’s Ella Jane Connell goes up for a shot during the Class 3A Area 6 tournament championship against Montgomery Academy. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

The fifth meeting of Prattville Christian and Montgomery Academy, this time in the 3A Area 6 tournament finals on Friday night, was missing something.

Two of the four previous meetings had been decided on the final possession by free throws. All were intense physical battles. The fifth one, like the previous four, was a championship-caliber battle between two of the best girls’ basketball programs in the state.

But whether it was the absence of PCA coach Jason Roberson, still quarantined for COVID contact tracing, or the fact that MA had won the previous four games, something was missing from the Panthers on both ends of the floor in the early moments of the game.

“I asked every girl, on a scale of 1-10, tell me how hard you played in the first half and how hard you played in the second half,” PCA assistant coach Jim Graham said. “Every single girl, on their own, gave me a rating of 3 or 4 in the first half and anywhere from 6 to 9 in the second half. So I explained to them that we’re really good and there are a lot of teams where you can do that and win. But not this team. They’re older, they’re more mature and we’re younger and haven’t learned to play at the level required for the length of time it’s required.”

Montgomery Academy spanked PCA early, grabbing a decisive 17-point lead at the half and holding off a late Panther rally for a 61-54 victory at MA’s Joe Mooty Court.

“I think we definitely got in their heads at the beginning of the game,” said MA senior Leighton Robertson, the tournament’s most valuable player. “We started off strong and that was part of our plan. We wanted to start out physically and mentally stronger than they were and I think we took it to them.”

Offensively, the Panthers hit just 3 of 11 shots in the first 12 minutes of the game while committing 10 turnovers. Defensively, the PCA players inexplicably ignored Madi Caddell and the MA senior made the Panthers pay dearly for their mistake, drilling two 3 pointers in the first quarter and three more in the second to single handedly finish off the visitors.  

“Madi shot it really well in the first half and that always makes a difference when you can hit some 3s,” Montgomery Academy coach Reg Mantooth said. “I don’t know if they were planning for that or not, but they were playing Gabby (Ramirez) really tight so it opened it up for Madi to hit some big shots.”

Caddell was 6 of 8 from the floor in the first half, scoring 18 points. She was 0 for 8 in the second half with three turnovers, but the damage was already done.

“We didn’t do what we were supposed to do,” Graham offered. “I don’t think they focused in film session, which is another maturity thing.”

Caddell’s first-half shooting, along with the Panthers’ poor offensive performance, staked Montgomery Academy to a 32-15 halftime lead.

“We have such a deep team that you can cover someone but another person is just going to step up,” Robertson said. “So there’s not much you can do because all of us are capable. No matter who you cover, someone else is going to step to the plate.” 

Robertson’s defense on PCA’s leading scorer, Ella Jane Connell, was solid, just as it had been in the previous four meetings. But with Caddell struggling in the second half, Robertson also picked up her offensive game, scoring 13 of her 15 points in the final 16 minutes as the Panthers staged a comeback.

“We knew they would come out and press us and try to get back in the game and I actually thought we did a pretty good job of handling the press,” Mantooth said. “We had some unforced turnovers where we traveled a couple of times, but then they shot it very well in the second half and that allowed them to get back in the game.”

Avery Rogers, who scored the game’s first basket on a 3 pointer, hit three more in the second half and Connell scored 12 of her 19 points in the second half as the Panthers drew within seven, but a three-point play by Chloe Johnson and a pair of Ann Cobern Chapman baskets helped the Eagles push the lead back out to 12 points and regain control of the game.

“I think when it gets close like that, for some teams it will get them down but for us it just motivates us,” Robertson said. “Like, it’s go time, we’ve got to finish this strong. When it starts getting close, we’re trying to make up for it and outhustle and at the end I think that’s what we did and were able to finish strong.”

Caddell led the Eagles with 18 points, followed by Roberson with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists, Chapman with 11 points and four rebounds and Johnson with eight rebounds, five assists and two steals to go along with six points.

Connell had 19 points and four assists, followed by Hannah Jones with 13 points and 12 rebounds, Rogers with 12 points and six rebounds and CoCo Thomas with seven points and nine rebounds.

In winning its 16th consecutive game, Montgomery Academy (24-2) earned the right to host Reeltown in the sub-regional round on Monday at 6:30 p.m. PCA (23-6) travels to Beulah for a sub-regional game on Monday at 6:30 p.m. 

“They’re a really, really good team,” Mantooth said. “We’ve been fortunate to win. We just tried to play as well as we could, understand they’re not going to go away and we have to play well to beat them.”

Two more wins and the pair will meet for a sixth time in Garrett Coliseum in the Southeast Regional finals with a trip to the state tournament in Birmingham on the line.

“All we can hope is that we do what we need to do and win two more ballgames,” Graham said, “and play them again.”

Joining Robertson on the all-tournament team were Caddell and Johnson, Rogers and Connell, Trinity’s Emma Kate Smith and Catholic’s Nona Johnson.  

BOYS BASKETBALL

Booker T. Washington 71, St. James 59

TUSKEGEE -- Bradley Thomas scored 21 points and K.J. Jackson added 17 for the Trojans, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Golden Eagles in the 4A Area 3 tournament finals in the Booker T. Washington gym on Friday night.

Thomas and Jackson were both named to the all-tournament team.

St. James returns to action on Tuesday at 6:30 in a sub-regional game at Geneva, while Booker T. Washington remains home to face Dale County.

Tallassee 66, Pike Road 56 (OT)

PIKE ROAD -- The Patriots could not close out the game in the fourth quarter, making just one of 10 free-throw attempts in the final minutes, as the Tigers rallied to win in overtime in the 5A Area 5 tournament finals in the Pike Road gym on Friday night.

Blake Durham led the Patriots with 13 points, followed by KJ Westry with 10.

Durham and Brandon Glasco were selected for the all-tournament team.

Pike Road (17-8) will travel to face the winner of Saturday’s Talladega-Sylacauga game on Tuesday at 6:30 in a sub-regional game, while Tallassee will play host to the loser of the Talladega-Sylacauga game.

AISA AAA semis

Tuscaloosa Academy 66, Clarke Prep 34

The Knights rolled to a 15-point lead in the first eight minutes and cruised past Clarke Prep 66-34 in the Alabama Independent School AAA semifinals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Friday.

Tuscaloosa Academy will face Pike Liberal Arts on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. for the AAA boys state championship.

The Knights were balanced in their assault, but Sam Rowley led the way with 15 points, scoring eight of those in the second quarter as TA extended their lead to 42-14. Bo Abston added 13, followed by Landon Stell with 11, Walker McKee with eight and Wilson King with seven.

Jay Davis had 12 points to lead Clarke Prep.

Pike Liberal Arts 53, Lee-Scott Academy 37

The Patriots trailed at the end of the first quarter, but rallied to take the lead in the second quarter before extending their lead to 12 points at the end of the third on the way to a win over the Warriors in the AAA semifinals on Friday.

Pike Liberal Arts will play Tuscaloosa Academy on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. for the AAA boys state championship.

Javon Chrisian scored 17 points to lead Pike, followed by Austin Cross with 13 and Mario Davenport with 10.

Joseph Horne led Lee-Scott with 16 points, followed by Carson Alexander with 12.

Glenwood School 64, Tuscaloosa Academy 51

Mia Brooks and Jasmyn Burts gave the Gators a solid first-quarter performance and combined for 48 points in a win over the Knights in the AAA girls semifinals on Friday at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.

Brooks, the talented senior forward who led the Gators to the AAA finals a year ago, scored seven points in the first quarter, seven more in the second and eight in the third to help the Gators return to the AAA finals on Wednesday against Clarke Prep. She finished with 27 points.

Burts had eight in the first quarter as Glenwood rolled out to an impressive 19-5 lead before the Knights cut it to five points at the end of the third quarter. Burts finished with 21 points.

Jamarra McDowell added eight for Glenwood.

Willesha Lang led Tuscaloosa with 19 points, followed by Lauren Richmond with 11 and Hill Warr with eight.

Clarke Prep 30, Pike Liberal Arts 24

Clarke Prep took an early lead and held on in a defensive struggle, beating the Patriots 30-24 in the AAA semifinals on Friday.

Clarke Prep will play Glenwood on Wednesday at noon for the AAA girls state championship.

Grace Davis had 16 points to lead Clarke Prep, followed by Grace Compton with nine points.

Amity White led Pike Liberal Arts with nine points