PREP RECAP: St. James boys topple MA; Tallassee wrestling advances to 5A Duals semis
St. James’ KJ Jackson is guarded by Montgomery Academy’s Seth Edwards (4), Jashawn Cooper in the Trojans win over the Eagles.
STAFF REPORT
St. James caught fire late, using 3-pointers by Ethan Beard and Paxton Wingard to grab the lead and the inside play of KJ Jackson to hold it as the Trojans edged Montgomery Academy 53-48 in a 3A Area 6 matchup in the St. James gym on Friday night.
The defensive battle was back and forth for most of the first half before the Eagles grabbed the lead in the third quarter. Beard’s 3-pointer put St. James ahead 41-40 and Wingard’s made it 44-41 before the Trojans used a pair of free throws by Jackson and a basket from Jackson as part of a 6-2 run that gave the Trojans a little cushion in the final minute.
“We didn’t shoot it as well as we have been shooting it,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “Skyler (Stovall) was pretty aggressive, in both halves, attacking the basket. We missed a couple of assignments defensively.
“We made a run at them, had a lead in the fourth quarter, then made a couple of mistakes they were able to capitalize on. KJ was really good for them on the offensive glass and in the paint. That played a big factor. They got a lot of second-chance points.
The Trojans improved to 2-0 in area play, taking a one-game lead over Montgomery Academy and Trinity and a two-game lead over Alabama Christian in the Area 6 race.
“We were fortunate enough to have the home game with them,” St. James coach Nigel Card said. “You can imagine how tough it is to get a win over there. We should play well on our home court. The scheduling worked out good, having ACA, which is young, then play a tough opponent like MA at home. But on the flip side, we have to go on the road and play Trinity on Tuesday.”
Card said the Eagles’ defense was effective in slowing down the Trojan attack, although Jackson scored at least five points in every quarter.
“We tried to do a good job of recognizing their defense,” Card said, “a combination of both man and zone. When they left the top guy up, the reversal of the ball became difficult. What we did was we continued to run our set because we felt there would be some opportunities on the baseline to get the ball in to our ‘bigs.’”
On the other end of the court, the Trojans had to keep Stovall from taking over the game in the paint while also keeping an eye on the Eagles’ guards.
“The game plan was to keep Stovall out of the lane, keep him from driving,” Card said. “We knew their shooters, No. 5 (Cole Caddell) in particular, was a big concern. We wanted to make sure we kept a hand on him. For the most part, we did a good job. Defensively, it was pretty solid.”
Stovall led the Eagles (9-8) with 14 points, four rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. DJ Vinson added eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, Caddell had eight points, three rebounds and a pair of steals and Brewer Welch had eight points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals. The Eagles play host to Alabama Christian on Tuesday.
Jackson had 26 points to lead the Trojans (7-5), followed by Beard and Clint Houser with nine points each.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Catholic 72, Brew Tech 67
LJ Green scored 35 points, along with 14 rebounds, six steals, two blocked shots and two assists to lead Catholic to a 72-67 win over the Rams in the Catholic gym on Saturday afternoon.
Jayden Phifer added 13 points and five rebounds and Josh Palmer had 12 points, 16 rebounds and a pair of steals to lead the Knights to their fourth win in the last five games.
Catholic (9-5) will play host to Bullock County on Tuesday and LAMP on Friday in a pair of 4A Area 4 games.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
LAMP 50, BTW Magnet 34
Serenity Griffin, held scoreless in the first half, poured in 16 points, pulled down nine rebounds and came up with eight steals as the Golden Tigers defeated BTW Magnet in a game played at Robert E. Lee on Saturday.
Ariana Cannida added 15 points and seven rebounds, followed by Kaylei Mixon with eight points and Grayson Dickert with six points and five assists.
Amaya Cleveland hit six 3-pointers to lead BTW Magnet with 26 points.
LAMP (12-9) will play host to Booker T. Washington on Tuesday and travel to Catholic on Friday in a pair of 4A Area 4 games.
Catholic 51, Brew Tech 35
Hannah Smith had 11 points and 17 rebounds to lead a balanced attack as the Knights defeated the Rams on Saturday in the Catholic gym.
Catholic built a lead early and maintained it throughout the contest, leading the Rams 16-7 at the end of the first quarter and 31-17 at the half.
Allyse Rudolph had 11 points and four rebounds for the Knights, followed by Heaven Bailey with 10 points, four assists and five steals and Leona Sanford with nine points, five rebounds and four assists.
The Knights (17-6) will play at Park Crossing on Monday before returning home to play Bullock County in a 4A Area 4 game on Tuesday.
WRESTLING
Tallassee advances to Class 5A state semis in Duals
Tallassee defeated Elberta, 57-11, to earn a trip to the Class 5A state semifinals over the weekend.
It is the first time the program has reached the semis in Duals competition. The Tigers will face Gulf Shores at home on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Panthers finish third in PCA Invitational behind St. James, Catholic
PRATTVILLE -- The Prattville Christian Academy wrestling team hosted its first-ever invitational tournament on Saturday, finishing third in the eight-team tournament behind St. James and Catholic.
PCA’s Aidan Cockrell finished undefeated as the champion in the heavyweight division, while Brody Pugh, Brysen Pugh and David Tubbs-Hill all finished second in their respective weight classes. Ryan Lueck, Matthew Post, Jacob Sabir and Eric Summerall placed third in their divisions and Logan Post and Carter Copeland finished fourth.
St. James won the team competition with 160.0 points, while PCA finished a half-point behind second-place Catholic.
The Panthers will travel to St. James on Monday to compete in the second round of the AHSAA 1A-4A Duals Tournament.