TUESDAY PREPS: PCA sweeps Trinity; Autauga boys stay undefeated

Ella Jane Connell dribbles against Maddie Smith for Trinity in Tuesday’s key 3A matchup. PCA kept its record perfect with the win over the Lady Wildcats. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Prattville Christian took another step toward hosting the 3A Area 6 tournament in three weeks, turning back Trinity 61-40 on Tuesday at Captain Jack Court.

PCA (25-0) improved to 4-0 in area play, while Trinity (18-4) dropped to 2-2 in area play. Three of the Wildcats’ four losses have been to the Panthers.

On the other hand, PCA’s closest thing to a loss came last week at home when the Panthers pulled out a narrow three-point win over Trinity, setting the stage for what was expected to be another hard-fought battle in the Trinity gym.

Instead, PCA held the Wildcats to three field goals in the second and third quarters while raining down 3 pointers to all but settle the area race.

“When they came to us (last week), that was the first time we had played them with (forward) Mya (Moskowitz) playing and she hurt us a little bit,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said. “We had to make some adjustments. She’s a big piece of the puzzle for them and does some nice things for them, so we were just trying to limit some of the things we gave up.

“You’ve got four girls who have scored 25 points or more in a game this year so you can only take away so much, then you cross your fingers and say, ‘we’re going to give up something.’ Here’s a decent shot by them, sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t.”

They didn’t, at least on Tuesday. Emma Kate Smith and Maddie Smith both scored 14 points, but Mary Alice Sasser had just five points and Moskowitz had three as the Panthers seemed to have a hand in every shooter’s face.

“They (Emma Kate and Maddie Smith) have to be aggressive for us,” said Trinity coach Blake Smith. “Then, there are times when you allow the double-teams to come and you throw it to the open players and you hope those open players make plays.”

Both teams clogged the paint, but PCA’s perimeter shooters were able to stretch the Trinity defense as Avery Rogers made four 3 pointers, Ally Blankinchip made three and Ella Jane Connell and Sarah Williams each made two.  

“They left different people open tonight,” Smith said. “We got a lot more easier shots under the basket up there (last week) because of what they were doing. I would assume they made a conscious effort not to let us get those.

“And in our scrambling tonight, we lost sight of the 3-point shooters. You’re going to concentrate on the post players, you have to. But it’s not just ‘shut down the post players.’ The guards can shoot.”

Connell had 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Rogers added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. And when the perimeter players missed, the forwards were still effective on the boards, with CoCo Thomas scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds and Hannah Jones scoring nine points and grabbing 12 rebounds. 

PCA plays host to Catholic on Friday, while Trinity travels to Montgomery Academy. PCA and Trinity won’t meet again until a possible matchup in the area tournament the second week of February and possibly in the Southeast Regional at Garrett Coliseum the following week. 

“That’s a good, good team,” Smith said. “They’re going to help us become the best version of ourself this year. Now, will that version be enough? I don’t know. We’d like to think that it can be.”

PCA boys break losing streak in win over Trinity

There were times during Prattville Christian Academy’s six-game losing streak when head coach Jason Roberson questioned his team’s mental toughness.

He wondered whether he was properly coaching his youthful team, particularly when the Panthers didn’t execute the offense to his satisfaction in a low-scoring loss last week at Catholic or finish the game after losing a 10-point lead in an overtime loss to Trinity at home last week.

Shooting certainly cures a lot of problems.

The Panthers got 3 pointers from five different players to jump on Trinity early, then pull away late for an 82-55 win over the Wildcats in a 3A Area 6 match at Captain Jack Court on Tuesday night.

“We had a double-digit lead (last week) in the third quarter, but we’re so young and trying to learn how to play with a lead,” Roberson said. “We’re trying to learn how to make simple, correct basketball plays. Tonight, we did more of that. They still made a run on us, cut it to seven going into the fourth quarter, and I was thinking, ‘Here we go again.’”

The Wildcats actually pulled within six a minute into the fourth quarter when Carson Roberson responded with two of his seven 3 pointers, extending the lead back to 12 points and igniting another barrage of PCA shots that continued until the final horn.

“He has been huge for us this year,” Roberson said of his son. “In fact, tonight he made his 100th 3 pointer. He has been super consistent with his shot. He’s made big shots all year. I know that may sound funny, we’re 8-15, but he’s made a lot of big shots for us so we don’t expect anything less. When he’s open, we expect it to go in.”

Conner Williams hit five 3 pointers as well, scoring 11 points in the first quarter to take a 25-13 lead over a shell-shocked Trinity squad. 

“They just came out of the gate smoking hot,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “Even though late in the third quarter, up there (last week), they were up 10 and this game we cut it to seven, this game just had a different feel to it. Our guys, I didn’t feel good energy from them. Even when we made a good run at the end of the third quarter, we came over to the bench and it was dead. 

“But credit to PCA. They were just hitting shots everywhere. We didn’t do a good job of guarding the ball and our help was a little off, we had the wrong guys helping, but credit to PCA because good teams expose you when you make mistakes. I don’t know how many 3s they hit, but it seemed like a million.”

Five different players hit a total of 17 treys, led by Williams with 25 points and eight rebounds, Carson Roberson with 24 points, Cade Segars with 13 points and nine assists and PJ Evans with nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists. 

Cal Bennett led Trinity (12-7) with 16 points, followed by David Michael Lieux with nine. The Wildcats travel to Montgomery Academy on Friday.

PCA remains in last place in the area, tied with Trinity at 1-3, but the Panthers look like a different team heading into Friday’s area game with Catholic.

“It’s big for us, just to get some confidence,” Roberson said. “We’ve had some games where we’ve had a lead and not been able to finish. For us, it’s not about what seed we get in the area tournament, it just has everything to do with can we be confident in who we are and what we’re trying to do.”

BOYS

Catholic 59, Montgomery Academy 40

LJ Green had 19 points, five rebounds, six blocked shots and four assists to help the Knights clinch the top seed and the host site for the upcoming 3A Area 6 tournament with a 59-40 win over Montgomery Academy on Tuesday night in the Catholic gym.

Catholic (8-7) improved to 4-0 in area play in sweeping the Eagles and taking a three-game lead over remaining area foes Prattville Christian (on Friday) and Trinity (on Jan. 25). Montgomery Academy (5-8) dropped to 2-2 in area play heading into Friday’s home game with Trinity.

T.J. Dudley added eight points, 13 rebounds and four assists, while Brennan Binns also had eight points. 

Cole Caddell led the Eagles with 14 points and four rebounds, followed by Jashawn Cooper with 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals and Jamal Cooper with nine points, six rebounds and four assists.

Autauga Academy 72, Edgewood Academy 57

ELMORE -- Robert Rose scored 23 points and Josh Palmer added 20 as the Generals remained unbeaten with a 15-point win over the Wildcats in a AA Region 1 Area 2 game in the Edgewood gym on Tuesday night.

AJ Perry added 17 points for Autauga (11-0), followed by Pharrell Banks with eight. The Generals improved to 3-0 in area play, while Edgewood dropped to 2-2 with a Thursday game at Hooper.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Catholic 56, Montgomery Academy 36

Catholic jumped out to a 17-4 lead in the first quarter and increased the lead to 31-5 at the half for a surprisingly easy 3A Area 6 victory over the Eagles on Tuesday.

Hannah Smith led the Knights with 16 points, followed by Allyse Rudolph with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists and Julienne Pharrams with 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Catholic (11-5) improved to 1-2 in area play, while Montgomery Academy dropped to 0-3.

Chloe Johnson led Montgomery Academy with 22 points. 

Catholic travels to Prattville Christian on Friday for another area game, while Montgomery Academy plays host to Trinity on Friday in a 3A Area 6 matchup. 

Edgewood Academy 55, Autauga Academy 19

ELMORE -- Lindsey Brown led a balanced attack with 13 points as Edgewood scored 20 points in the second quarter in a 55-19 win over Autauga in the Edgewood gym on Tuesday night.

Jaylyn Strength added 11 points, including a 5-of-7 performance at the free-throw line, and Emma Weldon had eight points, all in the third quarter, as the Wildcats improved to 4-0 in AA Region 1 Area 2 play.

Destinee Carroll and Kensley Gabehart each had five points to lead the Generals. 

Westminster-Oak Mountain 32, LAMP 26

BIRMINGHAM -- Mackenzie Lewis scored 10 points for the Golden Tigers in a low-scoring defensive battle at Westminster on Tuesday.

LAMP (8-10) returns home to play Alabama Christian on Friday.

Hooper Academy 45, Cornerstone Christian 16

HOPE HULL -- Kaylee Midkiff had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Colts to an area win over the Chargers on Tuesday night at Darrell Self Gym.

Emma Griggs added eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots as Hooper (11-8) improved to 2-1 in AA Region 1 Area 2 play heading into a crucial area game with Edgewood on Thursday.

Stanhope Elmore 40, Benjamin Russell 30

ALEXANDER CITY -- Kelbi Johnson hit three of her six 3 pointers in the third quarter as the Mustangs used a 16-point third quarter to secure a 6A Area 5 victory over Benjamin Russell on Tuesday night.

Stanhope Elmore led just 17-13 at the half, but Johnson’s deadly aim in the third quarter helped Stanhope Elmore sweep the season series with the Wildcats. 

Johnson finished with 20 points and six rebounds, followed by Ariel Gilchrist with 11 points, six steals and eight assists and Jacey Haynes with seven points, 15 rebounds and 11 blocked shots.

Tyliciya Calhoun led Benjamin Russell with eight points.

Stanhope Elmore (15-4) improved to 2-1 in area play and will return home to play Shelby County on Friday and Wetumpka on Saturday. 

LAMP 56, BTW Magnet 37 

Ariana Cannida scored 18 points to lead the Golden Tigers to an easy win in the 4A Area 5 opener in the LAMP gym on Monday night.

Mackenzie Lewis added 15 points and Serenity Griffin had 12 for the Golden Tigers (8-9), which plays host to Alabama Christian Academy in an area game on Friday.

WRESTLING

Prattville Christian beats Stanhope Elmore, Brew Tech

PRATTVILLE -- The Prattville Christian Academy wrestling team returned home on Tuesday for the first time since December to host Stanhope Elmore, Brew Tech and Catholic.  

In the first match of the night the Panthers took on Stanhope Elmore and came away with a 34-33 dual meet win. In the second match of the night, PCA took on Brew Tech and came away with a 60-12 win.  In the final match, PCA took on the Knights but Catholic pulled out a 42-39 victory.  

Andrew Allen and Mathew Post had big nights for the Panthers.  

PCA returns to action on Thursday at home against St. James and John Carroll on Senior Night beginning at 6 p.m.