THREE TIMES A CHAMPION: PCA girls rolls to another state title - this time in 4A
For the third-straight year, the Prattville Christian Panthers are celebrating a state championship, defeating Priceville in the 4A finals Friday at the Legacy Arena. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
BIRMINGHAM -- Prattville Christian Academy coach Jason Roberson speaks fondly of his “Twin Towers,” CoCo Thomas and Hannah Jones, and the success they bring to the PCA girls’ basketball team.
He couldn’t find enough adjectives to describe the pair’s final game in a PCA uniform as they combined for 52 points and 31 rebounds to lead the Panthers to their third consecutive state championship with a 76-59 win over Priceville in the 4A finals at Legacy Arena on Friday.
“Unbelievable,” Roberson said. “They’ve carried us for a while, production wise. And as seniors, they were not going to be denied. CoCo with 29 points, 13 rebounds, Hannah with 23 points and 18 rebounds, just unbelievable. They’re athletic, obviously, They’ve got good size, obviously. But I’m going to tell you what. These ladies work so hard. They give unbelievable effort and they are just so much fun to be around.”
The pair led Prattville Christian to a 128-13 record over the last four years, losing to T.R. Miller in the regional semifinals in 2020 before bouncing back with 3A state championships in 2021 and 2022 and this year’s Class 4A state championship.
And Roberson certainly is pushing the right buttons in his program. A year after senior Ella Jane Connell put together one of the most impressive performances in her career to lead the Panthers to an overtime victory against Susan Moore in the 3A finals, Thomas and Jones put on a rebounding and scoring clinic in a memorable performance against the Bulldogs on Friday.
“We’ve always kind of bounced off each other,” Jones said. “I think that definitely applied today. If I was getting one block, she was getting the other block. We were just fighting to get the rebounds.”
Thomas, who 20 points and 19 rebounds in a semifinal win over New Hope on Tuesday, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. The Shelton State Community College signee, a state champion in November on the volleyball court, said she was ready to pick up where PCA left off against Susan Moore last March.
“We were all ready to come back to basketball, expecting to work hard and get back to where we were,” Thomas said.
Priceville coach Terrie Nelson, the daughter of former Pell City coach Larry Slater, borrowed a page from her late father’s playbook in trying to contain Jones and Thomas.
“We were playing my daddy’s old defense,” Nelson said. “It’s called the ‘cat’ defense and you have a player that’s trying to go for the steal into the post and if it gets into the post, you’re doing a double team. But they had several sets that got us out of whack where my person was having to come out and that left us one on one and we weren’t doing a good job of getting around the post and so they were able to bury us in the paint.
“What we thought we were going to do at the time would be good for us. We had Gracin (Prater) as the ‘cat.’ With her speed, we were hoping she would be able to go in and get steals (along with) Carly Jo (Nelson) with her speed. But they got us in some sets that we weren’t as prepared for.”
It also helped that PCA (34-3) jumped out to an 18-3 lead six minutes into the game with the help of three 3-pointers by Avery Rogers.
“Before the game, Coach ‘Rob’ told us we were going to take whatever the other team gives us,” said Rogers, who finished with 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. “If that means one-on-one in the post, we’re going to take that; if that means I’m shooting 10 3s, then that’s also what it means. So just shoot when I’m open and have confidence in myself.”
Priceville (23-10) would make a run of its own to get back into the game. And though the Bulldogs never led, they managed to pull within two points in the second quarter and four points in the third quarter before a 16-0 run late in the third quarter put the game out of reach.
“We were talking about (losing the lead in last year’s finals) on the bench,” Roberson said. “Ladies, we’ve got to keep fighting. We’ve got a little lead here, but let’s don’t let them back in the game because how good is Priceville? How good is Coach Nelson? Those girls can play. And if you take any possession off, even for a half-second, they’re going to make you pay.”
Prater led Priceville with 14 points, followed by Lauren Hames and Leslie Hames with 10. Joining Thomas on the all-tournament team were Jones and Rogers of Prattville Christian and Prater, Abby Langlois and Leslie Hames of Priceville. Despite the loss, Nelson was upbeat after the loss after her Bulldogs, area champions for five of the last six years, finally reached the state tournament for the first time in school history.
“What a ride,” Nelson said. “It’s so great to be here, so great to look in the stands and see so many people that are out here loving this team. I can’t get off the high. I know we lost and I’m upset … it hurts. But I’m so proud.”