PREP RECAPS: Catholic pulls away to beat PCA; Lady Panthers get easy win; Autauga stays unbeaten

PCA center Hannah Jones goes up for a block of the shot of Julienne Pharrams in the Lady Panthers’ win over Catholic. (Tim Gayle)

Compiled by TIM GAYLE

For the longest time, Prattville Christian Academy and Catholic were locked in a 31-31 tie in the third quarter. Both teams were struggling to find any offensive spark that could turn the 3A Area 6 game in their favor.

“They’re a very good defensive team,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said, “so it’s hard to get good offensive shots. More than just scoring, we were supposed to be focused on a defensive game plan and blocking out and we had way too many lapses.”

T.J. Dudley was a consistent force in the paint and LJ Green scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Knights finally pulled away for a 53-43 win over the Panthers in the area opener for both teams in the Catholic gym on Friday night.

“The game was kind of choppy and we tried to speed it up a little bit and it worked to our favor,” Catholic coach Mike Curry said. “But we lost them a couple of times in transition and they made some shots. We played with a little more energy and a little more effort (later in the game) and that got us out in transition, where we needed to be. His game plan was to back off and make us make some shots and our game plan was to speed the game up and get out in transition. For a minute there, nobody was taking advantage of the situation on either side.”

Catholic (5-7) improved to 1-0 in area play and is tied atop the area standings with Montgomery Academy heading into Tuesday’s home game with Trinity. PCA (7-13) dropped to 0-1 in area play and is tied for third with Trinity heading into Tuesday’s game with Montgomery Academy.

In an area race that may not be decided until the final game, Friday’s meeting was an indicator of how evenly matched the four teams are as PCA took an early lead with its 3-point shooting, only to see Catholic regain control in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter with its defensive play.

“We starting to play better,” Dudley said. “Defensive wise, we’re starting to pick it up because defense is one of the main things we needed to work on. Offensively, we just need to control the ball and play to our strengths.”

The inside-out duo of guard Carson Roberson, who had 18 points, six rebounds and four assists, and power forward Coleman Hunter, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds, gave the Panthers an early advantage before the Knights played better on the perimeter in the second half and gave Dudley some help on Hunter.

“In the third quarter, we started helping out more,” Dudley said. “With No. 10, we started fronting him more and getting help on him.”

Dudley, meanwhile, contributed 17 points, 12 rebounds and three steals, scoring at least four points in each of the final three quarters. 

“He was solid,” Curry said. “He missed some bunnies around the basket, but he did enough. Then LJ got going late. In the third quarter, he was there, point blank, and couldn’t buy one.”

Green, who had 15 points, five rebounds and five steals, was the difference late, taking an assist from Dudley on a 3 pointer with 6:35 remaining, then scoring the next three Catholic baskets to help the Knights to a 10-point lead with a little less than three minutes remaining.

“I think he was a little more aggressive and made his mind up to get a little closer to the basket toward the end of the game so give him credit for that,” Roberson said. 

Just as Dudley, Green and their Catholic teammates turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter, Roberson said his team strayed away from its game plan defensively, allowing Dudley and Green to take charge of the game. 

“The two best basketball players on the floor, definitely the two best athletes, play for Catholic,” Roberson said. “We had a game plan and didn’t follow it enough as many possessions as we should. Maybe our young guys will learn from it.”

In the junior varsity game, Catholic defeated PCA 48-23 despite 15 points and eight rebounds from Cooper Osborne. Ryan Kiefer added six points and 11 rebounds for the Panthers (2-6) and Eric Sumrall grabbed four rebounds.

PCA girls dominate Catholic

It isn’t often that Prattville Christian’s post players are held scoreless through the first quarter.

That was the challenge facing the unbeaten Panthers in the area opener at Catholic on Friday night as both Hannah Jones and CoCo Thomas were held scoreless in a tightly contested ballgame.

“For whatever reason, they didn’t come out with the fire and intensity and toughness that they usually do,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said, “but I’ll give some credit to Catholic for that. I thought their post players, the young girl, Hannah Smith, and the senior (Julienne Pharrams) played tough and physical and kind of took it to them in the first quarter.”

PCA got 10 points from Ella Jane Connell in that stretch and three more from Avery Rogers to grab the lead before pulling away in the third quarter for a 71-45 win over the Knights in the 3A Area 6 opener for both teams.

PCA (22-0) improved to 1-0 in area play and is tied atop the area standings with Trinity heading into Tuesday’s meeting in Prattville. Catholic (12-4) dropped to 0-1, tied with Montgomery Academy for third place as those two play each other on Tuesday in search of their first area win. 

“I think we played well,” Catholic coach Jill Clark said. “We just got tired. But they’re good. You can’t take a play off or they’re going to score on you every time. But we fought hard tonight. We didn’t quit. We got after it. We made them work for that game.”

In Friday’s meeting, Connell and Rogers staked the Panthers to a 13-10 lead at the end of the third quarter and three-point plays from Thomas and Jones helped PCA extend the lead to 11 points (33-22) at the half before a different PCA team took command in the second half with 23 points and 12 rebounds from Jones. 

“She wasn’t playing very hard in the first quarter,” Roberson said. “When the first quarter ended, we woke up a little bit. I just told Hannah (at halftime), ‘They don’t know who you are. You need to go show them who Hannah Jones is.’ She had 20 points in the second half and dominated.”

By the end of the third quarter, a few costly turnovers by the Knights and an energized PCA attack helped the Panthers take a 54-31 lead into the fourth quarter. 

“I think they turned up their intensity a little bit,” Clark said, “and I think we got tired and a little sloppy.”

Connell followed Jones in scoring with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists, followed by Thomas with 16 points, 20 rebounds and four steals and Rogers with nine points and seven assists.

Pharrams led Catholic with 14 points, followed by Heaven Bailey with 12. 

BOYS 

Autauga Academy 80, Cornerstone Christian 46

COLUMBIANA -- AJ Perry scored 20 points and Robert Rose added 19 as the Generals improved to 9-0 and 2-0 in area play with an 80-46 win at Cornerstone on Friday night.

Pharrell Banks added 10 points for the Generals, followed by Deuhn Carroll with eight, Dezmen Dickerson with seven and Josh Palmer with six.

Evangel Christian 53, Valiant Cross 36 

Jeremiah Williams scored 21 points and Nii Addy added 14 points and eight rebounds to push Evangel to the win over Valiant Cross. Kennedy Holland had nine points, five assists and three steals. 

The Lions (8-7) will travel to Luverne to play Crenshaw Christian in an area game on Tuesday. 

Autauga Academy 62, Edgewood Academy 23 (THUR)

PRATTVILLE -- Rob Rose scored 22 points to lead the Generals to a comfortable win in the AA Region 1 Area 2 opener for both teams on Thursday night.

AJ Perry added 11 points and Pharrell Banks had 10 for Autauga (8-0).

Highland Home 53, Calhoun 39 (THUR)

HIGHLAND HOME -- Terrin Brown had 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals as the Squadron remained unbeaten against Alabama teams with a 53-39 win over Calhoun in the area opener on Thursday night.

J.J. Faulk added 13 points and three rebounds and Keldric Faulk had 10 points, 20 rebounds and four blocked shots in the win. 

GIRLS

Stanhope Elmore 55, Wetumpka 45

MILLBROOK -- Jace Haynes scored 16 points and grabbed 22 rebounds to lead the Mustangs to a 10-point win over the Indians on Friday night.

Ariel Gilchrist added 13 points, six steals and 11 assists for Stanhope Elmore (12-2), followed by Summer Hicks with 10 points.

Janae McCall led Wetumpka with 22 points, followed by Zariah Fannin with 18.

Lowndes Academy 46, Hooper Academy 32

LOWNDESBORO -- Hooper fell behind early on the road and could never catch up with the Rebels, who pulled out a 14-point victory in the Lowndes gym on Friday.

“We have got to learn to play all four quarters, especially when we play good teams like Lowndes,” Hooper coach Buzz Phillips said. “We did not shoot well and made some costly turnovers tonight.” 

Kaylee Midkiff led the Colts with 11 points.

Hooper (9-7) plays a pair of area games next week, facing Autauga at home on Tuesday and traveling to Edgewood on Thursday.

 Hooper Academy 51, Crenshaw Christian 19 (THUR)

HOPE HULL -- Sydney Dicks and Kaylee Midkiff each scored 12 points to lead the Colts to a win over the Cougars on Thursday night.

Freshman K.G. Taylor added eight points for Hooper (9-6), which travels to Lowndes Academy on Friday. 

Kadee McGough led Crenshaw Christian with five points.

Edgewood Academy 50, Autauga Academy 8

PRATTVILLE -- Jaylyn Strength and Lindsey Brown each scored nine points in the first quarter as the Wildcats raced out to an early 21-2 lead and cruised to an easy win in the AA Region 1 Area 2 opener for both teams on Thursday in the Autauga gym.

Brown finished with 14 points, followed by Strength with 13 and Lexie Smith with 11.

Kensley Gabehart had two of her team’s three field goals to lead the Generals with four points.

Edgewood remains on the road in area play, traveling to Cornerstone on Tuesday. 

Highland Home 49, Calhoun 16

HIGHLAND HOME -- Janya Foster had 18 points and three rebounds and Jameria Green added 12 points, seven steals and five assists to lead the Squadron (9-8) to a win in the area opener on Thursday night in the Highland Home gym.

Candace Brown led Calhoun with six points.

Stanhope Elmore 59, Tallassee 22

MILLBROOK -- Jacey Haynes scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the first quarter to stake the Mustangs to an early lead in a 59-22 win over the Tigers in the Stanhope Elmore gym on Thursday night. 

Rylee Williams picked up the scoring in the second quarter, scoring 10 of her 14 points in that quarter to help the Mustangs extend a 17-2 lead to 35-10 at the half.

Haynes finished the game with 18 points and 17 rebounds, while Williams had 14 points and seven rebounds. Kelbi Johnson added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Janiya Johnson led Tallassee with 10 points, including eight in the second half.

WRESTLING 

Prattville Christian advances with runner-up finish in Region 3 duals meet

MONTEVALLO -- The Panthers competed on Thursday in the 1A-4A Region 3 duals meet against Montevallo, Oak Grove and American Christian Academy for a chance to move on to the next round of the AHSAA duals tournament.  

In the first round PCA took on Oak Grove and came away with a 52-24 win. In the second round, PCA lost to Montevallo by a score of 45-26. Needing a win to finish second and move on to the next round of the team duals, PCA beat American Christian Academy by a score of 42-23, only the second time in school history PCA has advanced to the second round of duals competition. 

PCA will travel to Ashville for the second round.

The Panthers return to action this weekend in the 24th annual Julian McPhillips Invitational at St. James.