PREP ROUNDUP: Tallassee comes up short in quest for wrestling title; Trinity girls win big in hoops

Tallassee’s Joseph Hooks and Jasper’s Luke Horsley battle in the Class 5A duals 172-pound match on Friday at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham. (AHSAA/Marvin Gentry)

COMBINED REPORTS

BIRMINGHAM – Tallassee’s chance for its first Duals wrestling state title came down to the final match on Friday.
The Tigers clung to a 33-32 lead over Jasper with only the 120-pound matchup remaining.
Jasper freshman Kortez Samuels (28-2) scored five quick points in the opening seconds and pinned Brady Adams in the second period, clinching the 5A Duals title for the Vikings. Jasper won 38-33 at Bill Harris Arena at the Birmingham Crossplex.
Jasper captured its first wrestling title since winning the traditional state tournament in 1971, when the school was known as Walker County and all schools were in a single tournament with no classifications.
Jasper led 32-23 after 11 matches, but Tallassee’s Rutland Phillips won by pin at 108 pounds and Mason Nelson earned a major win to give the Tigers a 33-32 lead.
Three Jasper wrestlers joined Samuels with pinfall wins – Antonio Nash (132 pounds), Carter Reed (160 pounds) and Colin Langley (285 pounds).
Tallassee, coached by John Mask, got consecutive pin victories by Ethan Jones (138 pounds, Land Bell (145 pounds) and Christian McCary (152 pounds).
Jasper’s victory gave Walker County two champions Friday. Dora won the 1A-4A duals crown earlier in the day. Huntsville also won the 7A championship and Mountain Brook captured the 6A title.

In the consolation round of Class 1A-4A, St. James defeated New Hope, 36-30. Noah Raines (106 lbs), Braylen Corley (126), Logan Hartson (132), Miles Zukowski (138), Emmett Rasmussen (145), Pruitt Conner (182), Brooks Bacheler (195) and A.J. Alozie (220) all won their respective weight class matches.

Wetumpka finished fourth in the Class 6A tournament, falling to Hartselle in the consolation match.

BASKETBALL

BOYS    

St. James 46, Alabama Christian 27

The Trojans jumped out to a quick lead and coasted past Alabama Christian in a 3A Area 6 game in the ACA gym on Friday.

St. James led 14-2 after a quarter and 20-2 in the second quarter before the Eagles scored the next 12 points to close to 20-14 and 23-16 at halftime.

KJ Jackson led all scorers with 12 points and Paxton Wingard added nine.

Mac Moorer led the Eagles with six points, followed by Tyree Saadiq with five points and four assists and Christian Snipes with five points and three rebounds.

St. James (9-5) improved to 4-0 in area play and can clinch the regular season title and earn the right to host the area tournament with a win at Montgomery Academy on Tuesday. Montgomery Academy and Trinity are tied for second place in the area at 2-2, while ACA (5-15) dropped to 0-4 in area play and will host Trinity on Tuesday.

Catholic 57, LAMP 43

Jayden Phifer had 15 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists to lead the Knights to a win over the Golden Tigers in a 4A Area 4 game in the Catholic gym on Friday night.

Catholic improved to 3-1 in area play, while LAMP dropped to 0-4. Booker T. Washington remains in first place in the area at 3-0 heading into Friday’s game with Bullock County.

Brennan Binns added 11 points, two steals and two assists in Catholic’s win, followed by LJ Green with 10 points, six rebounds, two steals and seven assists, Courtney Williams with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two steals and Josh Palmer with nine points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Catholic (11-5) will play host to Booker T. Washington in a crucial area game on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Union Springs to play Bullock County on Friday.

LAMP (6-16) will play host to Bullock County on Tuesday before traveling to Tuskegee to play Booker T. Washington on Thursday.

Autaugaville 54, Marbury 37

AUTAUGAVILLE -- Jaden Nixon scored 23 points to lead the Eagles to an 18-point win over the 5A Bulldogs in the Autaugaville gym on Friday night.

Nashun Palmer added 15 points, followed by Deshaun Hall with 11.

Autaugaville improved to 11-6 with the win.

Wilcox Central 64, Prattville Christian 43

CAMDEN -- Carson Roberson led the Panthers with 19 points as PCA fell to Wilcox Central 64-43 in a key 4A Area 5 game in the Wilcox Central gym.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak by PCA (12-11), who fell to 3-1 in area play, a half-game behind Wilcox at 3-0.

Brady Roberson added eight points and four rebounds for the Panthers, followed by Conner Williams with seven points, PJ Evans with six points, six assists and four rebounds and Cade Segars with three points.

PCA will travel to play Trinity on Monday at 4:30 p.m.. rescheduling a game from Jan. 3, before returning home to host Wilcox Central on Tuesday and Dallas County on Thursday in a pair of area games.

Evangel Christian 55, Valiant Cross 46

Nii Addy had a career night in scoring with 21 points and also had 13 rebounds to lead Evangel Christian to a nine-point win over Valiant Cross on Thursday.

Will McCord also had a career night in scoring with 20 points for Evangel, followed by Quendarius Rudolph with nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Lions (5-13, 1-2 in Class A Region 1 Area 1) will play host to Cornerstone Christian in an area game on Monday.

Prattville Christian 55, Dallas County 51

PLANTERSVILLE -- PJ Evans and Cade Segars each scored 15 points to lead the Panthers to a 55-51 win over the Hornets in a 4A Area 5 game played in the Dallas County gym on Thursday night.

PCA improved to 3-0 in area play and has now won four consecutive games heading into Friday’s game at Wilcox Central (2-0). Dallas County dropped to 1-2 in area play, followed by BTW Magnet at 0-4.

Evans also had nine rebounds and five assists in the win, while Conner Williams had 10 points and seven rebounds, Collier Connell scored seven points and Carson Roberson scored six. Brady Roberson grabbed five rebounds.

Lowndes Academy 65, Crenshaw Christian 30
LUVERNE -- Clayton Hussey scored 23 points along with seven rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal to lead the Rebels to a 35-point victory in a Class A Region 2 Area 2 game at Crenshaw Christian on Thursday.

Lowndes (14-2) led by 10 points at the half before outscoring the Cougars 19-3 in the third quarter to improve to 3-0 in area play.

Watters Box added 14 points, a pair of rebounds, three assists and two steals, followed by Luke Lovell with eight points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal, Ashton Yelder with six points, five rebounds and two steals, Zach Azar with five points and three rebounds and Tyler Hollingshead with three points. Clay Duncan, Trey Thomas and Reid Owen each had two points, with Duncan contributing two rebounds, three assists and a steal, Thomas adding a rebound and a steal and Owen pulling down a pair of rebounds.

GIRLS   

Trinity 56, Montgomery Academy 13

There was never any doubt who was going to win the 3A Area 6 matchup between Trinity and Montgomery Academy. The Wildcats led 19-3 in the first quarter, 39-7 at the half and 54-8 heading into the fourth quarter. But with a mismatch in the paint, the Wildcats went to Mya Moskowitz early and often and the sophomore forward responded with 19 points in a 56-13 win at Joe Mooty Court on Friday night.

“Mya is improving her inside and outside game,” Trinity coach Blake Smith said. “She has embraced the idea that I can atttack off the dribble, that I can shoot the 3 but she’s also embraced the idea that she can sometimes sit back in the post and we can feed her. And she finishes well there and can pass out of there. Moving forward, that’s going to be a big thing for us. She multi-dimensional, can do so many different things. It’s getting her to believe it, to know it, that she is the most powerful player on the floor.

“I think she knows that for this team to accomplish what we want to accomplish, there are going to be moments where we have to get easy baskets and she’s the best person to do that.”   

Trinity (20-2) improved to 4-0, moving closer to the goal of hosting the area tournament in two weeks. The Wildcats are a game ahead of St. James (3-1), followed by Alabama Christian at 1-3 and Montgomery Academy at 0-4.

The Wildcat starters scored all of their points in the first three quarters, with the reserves playing the fourth period. Emma Kate Smith followed Moskowitz in scoring with 11 points, giving her 2,130 points in her career, followed by Francine Morris with nine and Mattie Smith with eight.

Caroline Waller led Montgomery Academy with five points.

The Wildcats travel to Alabama Christian on Tuesday and St. James on Friday.

Montgomery Academy (1-16) will play host to St. James on Tuesday and travel to Alabama Christian on Friday. 

St. James 74, Alabama Christian 45

Ava Card scored a career high 44 points, including five 3-pointers, as the Lady Trojans defeated the Lady Eagles for the 35th consecutive time dating back to 2011.

Natalie Barton added 11 for Saint James (17-6), who improved to 3-1 in 3A Area 6 play, a game behind Trinity (4-0) and two games ahead of ACA (1-3).

The Trojans led 22-14 after one quarter and 41-27 at halftime.

For Alabama Christian, Rachel Rine scored 13 points and handed out three assists, followed by Jaide Newkirk with 12 points and four rebounds and Katelyn Sutton with 11 points and three rebounds.

The Trojans can clinch second place in the area with a win at Montgomery Academy on Tuesday, while ACA (8-10) returns home to play host to Trinity on Tuesday.

Prattville Christian 60, Wilcox Central 26
CAMDEN -- Hannah Jones had 31 points, eight rebounds and five steals to lead the Panthers to a comfortable 4A Area 5 win in the Wilcox Central gym on Friday night.

PCA (21-2) improved to 4-0 in area play and can clinch the regular season area title with a win at home on Tuesday against Wilcox Central (2-1). The Panthers will close out area play at home on Thursday against Dallas County.

Jenna McClendon added 12 points and six rebounds for the Panthers, followed by CoCo Thomas with six points, six rebounds and four steals, Kayden Carr with five points, seven rebounds and four assists and Avery Rogers with three points, five rebounds and five assists. Ally Blankinchip also had three points.

Catholic 58, LAMP 27

Catholic pulled away in the second quarter, turning a close game into a 31-15 lead at the half on the way to a 31-point area win in the Catholic gym on Friday night.

Catholic (18-7) improved to 4-0 in 4A Area 4 play and can clinch the regular season area title and the right to host the area tournament with a win over Booker T. Washington on Tuesday. LAMP (13-10) fell to 2-2 in area play and will play host to Bullock County on Tuesday.  

Catholic was led by Hannah Smith with 18 points and eight rebounds, followed by Allyse Rudolph with 15 points and Heaven Bailey with 13 points, seven assists and six steals.

Kaylei Mixon led the Golden Tigers with 12 points. 

Prattville Christian 83, Dallas County 5

PLANTERSVILLE -- Avery Rogers hit eight 3-pointers to finish with 24 points, eight assists and five steals in an 83-5 romp over the Hornets in a 4A Area 5 game at the Dallas County gym on Thursday.

PCA improved to 3-0 in area play and has now outscored their area opponents 231-26 heading into Friday’s game at Wilcox Central (2-0). Dallas County dropped to 1-2 in area play, followed by BTW Magnet at 0-4.

Hannah Jones added 25 points. Kayden Carr just missed another triple double with 16 points, 11 assists, and 9 steals. CoCo Thomas added 8 points and 5 rebounds. Jenna McClendon had 6 points and 9 rebounds. Ally Blankinchip added 4 points and 4 steals. PCA is now 20-2 on the season and 3-0 in area play.

Lowndes Academy 60, Crenshaw Christian 40

LUVERNE -- Three players recorded double doubles as the Rebels defeated the Cougars 60-40 in a Class A Region 2 Area 2 game at Crenshaw Christian on Thursday.

Molly Powell had 20 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot, Cameron Hess had 13 points, 10 rebounds and three steals and Haley Briggs had 12 points, 10 rebounds and an assist as Lowndes (11-5) improved to 3-0 in area play.

Catie Wallace Self added six points, five rebounds, an assist and a pair of steals for the Rebels, followed by Riley Lane with five points, five rebounds and two steals, Haylon Self with two points, two rebounds and a steal and Addi Bridges with two points, a rebound and an assist.

2023 AHSAA WRESTLING DUALS FINALS
CLASS 7A
7A DUALS FINALS
Huntsville (28-0) 59, Smiths Station (22-4) 6
7A DUALS CONSOLATION
Thompson (25-10) 62, Enterprise (22-4) 3

CLASS 6A
6A DUALS FINALS
Mountain Brook (14-4) 32, Mortimer Jordan (31-3) 27
6A DUALS CONSOLATION
Hartselle (17-2) 36, Wetumpka (14-3) 35

CLASS 5A
5A DUALS FINALS
Jasper (24-5) 38, Tallassee (23-1) 33
5A DUALS CONSOLATION
Gulf Shores (27-2) 37, Hayden (30-3) 27

CLASS 1A/4A
1A/4A DUALS FINALS
Dora (33-2) 39, Ranburne (23-3) 31
1A/4A DUALS CONSOLATION
St. James (18-3) 36, New Hope (13-2) 30

AHSAA Wrestling Duals Finals

Class 6A Championship Consolation Match
Hartselle (17-2) 36, Wetumpka (14-3) 35
106 pounds: Jacob Doshier, Hartselle pinned Eli Walsh, Wetumpka, Fall 0:56.
113 pounds: Ramon Lozada, Wetumpka dec. Jackson Schutt Hartselle, 7-0.
120 pounds: Roman McWilliams, Wetumpka dec. Ethan Thorne, Hartselle, Tech Fall 16-0
126 pounds: Gage Roberts, Hartselle pinned Troy Watson Wetumpka),  Fall 0:52.
132 pounds: Lincoln Bryant, Hartselle won by forfeit
138 pounds: Tyler Mann, Wetumpka dec. Ethan England, Hartselle, 5-1
145 pounds: Chad Strickland, Wetumpka won by forfeit
152 pounds: Payton Roberts, Hartselle dec. Zach Crostwait, Wetumpka, 8-5.
160 pounds: Gage Ownby, Hartselle pinned Melvin Owens, Wetumpka, Fall 3:50.
170 pounds: Andrii Tymchenko, Hartselle pinned Eduardo Roblero, Wetumpka), Fall 1:58.
182 pounds: Jameson Falciani, Hartselle dec. Kaleb Robinson, Wetumpka, 8-1.
195 pounds: Jason Henegar, Wetumpka pinned Sam Ashley, Hartselle, Fall 2:31.
220 pounds: Christian Preston, Wetumpka pinned Brian Holt, Hartselle, Fall 1:52.
285 pounds: Willie Cox, Wetumpka pinned Brayden Huckabee, Hartselle, Fall 2:45. 

Class 5A Championship Match
Jasper (24-5) 38, Tallassee (23-1) 33
106 pounds: Rutland Phillips, Tallassee pinned Leo Garcia, Jasper, Fall 1:18.
113 pounds: Mason Nelson, Tallassee dec. Ethan Cummings, Jasper, Maj. dec 9-0.
120 pounds: Kortez Samuels, Jasper pinned Brady Adams, Tallassee, Fall 2:33.
126 pounds: Ethan Caldwell, Jasper dec. Avery Brantley, Tallassee, Maj dec 15-4.
132 pounds: Antonio Nash, Jasper pinned Mason Ledbetter, Tallassee, Fall 0:48.
138 pounds: Ethan Jones, Tallassee pinned David Baradell, Jasper, Fall 4:57.
145 pounds: Land Bell, Tallassee pinned Jaylen Martinez, Jasper, Fall 4:25.
152 pounds: Christian McCary, Tallassee pinned Garrett Caldwell, Jasper, Fall 1:26.

160 pounds: Carter Reed, Jasper pinned Tra`Mel McCoy, Tallassee, Fall 3:08.

170 pounds: Luke Horsley, Jasper dec. Joseph Hooks, Tallassee, 12-7.

182 pounds: Caden Griffith, Tallassee) dec. Tyson Phillips, Jasper, Tech Fall, 17-2.
195 pounds: Jamie Burnam (Jasper) dec. Nolan Addeo, Tallassee, Maj dec 11-0.
220 pounds: Cole Carter, Jasper dec. Jude Rogers, Tallassee, 7-0.

285 pounds: Colin Langley, Jasper pinned Corbin Grover, Tallassee, Fall 1:40.



 

Class 1A/4A Consolation Match
St. James (18-3) 36, New Hope (13-2) 30
106 pounds: Noah Raines, St James dec. Christian Beckwith, New Hope, 11-4.

113 pounds: Cameron Sharp, New Hope dec. Luke Robbins, St James, 7-1.

120 pounds: Adrian Waugh, New Hope pinned Andrew Shalayda, St James, Fall 0:34.
126 pounds: Braylen Corley, St James pinned Charles Haywood, New Hope, Fall 2:35.
132 pounds: Logan Hartson, St. James pinned Ethan Hunter, New Hope, Fall 0:44.
138 pounds: Miles Zukowski, St. James pinned Hunter Welch, New Hope, Fall 2:39.
145 pounds: Emmett Rasmussen, St. James  dec. Taft Dempsey, New Hope. 14-7.
152 pounds: Cody Lenhardt, New Hope won by forfeit
160 pounds: Ricky Toney, New Hope dec. Jake Huff, St James, 12-5.

170 pounds: Layton Pohl, New Hope wins forfeit
182 pounds: Pruitt Conner, St James dec. Danny Fuell, New Hope, 9-4.
195 pounds: Brooks Bacheler, St James dec. Jaydon Smitherman, New Hope, 4-3.
220 pounds: A.J. Alozie, St. James wins forfeit
285 pounds: Stephen Walls, New Hope pinned Jake Streeton, St James, Fall 1:14.