THURSDAY PREPS: PCA wins 4A volleyball title; Dothan football downs JD

Prattville Christian Academy defeated Plainview for the Class 3A state volleyball title Thursday in Birmingham. (Contributed)

STAFF REPORTS

BIRMINGHAM -- Prattville Christian rallied back from a second-set loss to win the school’s first-ever volleyball state championship with a 3-1 victory over Plainview on Thursday at Bill Harris Arena.

The Panthers (38-19) employed a similar formula throughout the season to reach the finals for the first time: losing early, then fighting back to win at the end. PCA lost 12 of its first 20 games this season before closing out the year with 14 wins in its final 16 games, losing only to 4A state champion Catholic and to St. Luke’s Episcopal in the South Super Regional finals.

On Thursday, the Panthers scored the first nine points of the first set and the Bears never got closer than seven the rest of the set at PCA won 25-16.

Plainview (63-12), competing in its second finals in three years, jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the second set. PCA pulled within 14-11 and again at 20-16, but Plainview scored the final five points to take a 25-16 win.

The third and fourth sets were nailbiters, with PCA winning both 25-22. The third set featured six ties and the fourth was tied on eight occasions before the Panthers, led by most valuable player Hannah Jones, pulled away late.

“We had a lot of energy at the start,” Jones said. “We all played for each other and played hard from the start.”

For the Panthers, Jones had 30 kills, three assists, an ace and 17 digs, Coco Thomas had 15 kills and a dig, Baylee Rogers had three kills, 44 assists, five aces and 16 digs and Avery Rogers had a kill, four assists and 15 digs.

Emma Kate Carter had two kills, a pair of aces and seven digs, Natalee Wheeler had an assist, an ace and 10 digs, Sally Swindall had five kills and a pair of digs and Brylee Byrd had a pair of assists, an ace and six digs.

The two teams were quite familiar with each other after meeting in the semifinals of the 3A state basketball tournament earlier this year. Jones, Thomas and Avery Rogers are starters for the Panthers and Laura Beth NeSmith and Wheeler are reserves on both the volleyball and basketball teams, while seven of the 12 Plainview basketball players also participate on the Bears’ volleyball team.

Joining Jones on the all-tournament team were Thomas and Baylee Rogers, along with Jocelyn Hatfield and Saydi Jackson of Plainview and Jorda Cook of Ohatchee.

Jones, Thomas and Swindall were the only seniors on PCA’s volleyball team, which was making just its fourth trip to the state tournament in school history. The Panthers reached the 3A quarterfinals in 2014 and 2019 and the semifinals in 2020.

FOOTBALL

Dothan 41, Jeff Davis 12

The Dothan Wolves broke open a close game with 28 points in the second quarter and cruised to a key Class 7A, Region 2 win over Jeff Davis on Thursday at Cramton Bowl.

Leading 3-0 after the first period, the Wolves scored three touchdowns on as many possession to pull away for a 24-0 lead. The Vols got on the scoreboard with three minutes left in the half on Donald Harris’s 2-yard run but they would not score again until the final minutes of the game on a 12-yard run by Micah Stinson.

Running back Tamarion Peterson led Dothan with 138 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Harris had 80 yards rushing to lead the Vols, who finish the season with a 3-7 record, 2-6 in region play.

Dothan played Thursday without its head coach, Jed Kennedy, who was suspended for the game for pushing down a team staff member during last week’s game.

Dothan (7-3, 5-3) awaits the outcome of Prattville-Central Phenix City and Enterprise-R.E. Lee games to know its playoff fate. A loss by either Prattville or Enterprise puts the Wolves in the playoffs.

Stanhope Elmore 21, Minor 7

ADAMSVILLE - The Mustangs closed out the 2022 season with a win over Minor on Thursday.

The win was the third-straight for Stanhope Elmore to finish the season and the final victory for Brian Bradford, who announced that he will step down at the end of the season.

Bradford has led the program for six years, finishing with a 34-31 record. The Mustangs finished 4-6 this season, their worst record in his tenure.