TUESDAY PREPS: St. James tops PCA in boys; PCA girls stay undefeated
COMPILED BY TIM GAYLE
PRATTVILLE - St. James didn’t want to get in a shootout with Prattville Christian Academy in its 2021-22 season opener, so the Trojans extended their defense and held the Panthers in check for a 58-43 win in the PCA gym on Tuesday night.
“That’s how we’ve got to play and that’s how we’ve got to try to win games,” St. James coach Nigel Card said. “We’ve got good physical talent, speed and quickness. We should rebound the ball better than we did tonight, but that’s something we’re going to have to do moving forward -- we have to guard people, identify what they do well and do our best to take it away from them.”
PCA (4-3) can be deadly accurate from the perimeter but the Trojans did a good job of extending their zone defense out to cover the shooters and control the paint with the presence of forward KJ Jackson, who finished with a game-high 20 points.
“We’ve got a very young team, but I give credit to Coach Card and St. James,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said. “They took it to us in just about every single area of the game -- assist-to-turnover ratio, rebounding the ball, taking good shots. They beat us in every category. They have three or four seniors that play big roles for them. Bradley Thomas is an unbelievable point guard. KJ Jackson, I feel like he’s a senior because he’s been playing since the eighth grade. He had 20 points and Bradley Thomas had 19 and we don’t have guys that can match up with that.”
The Trojans led by just two points at the end of the first quarter and by four points at the half, but as the Panthers continued to miss contested shots from the perimeter, Jackson was there to snag the rebound, helping the Trojans extend their lead to 14 points late in the third quarter.
Carson Roberson hit a pair of 3-pointers that threatened to rally the Panthers, but the Trojans focused on their defense and kept PCA from gaining any late momentum with their perimeter shooting.
“We had to shade shooters and identify who the shooters were,” Card said. “Consequently, we have to leave some other people open. But we just can’t run off and leave the guys who can hurt us the most. For most of the game, (the St. James’ players) did a good job taking that away from them.”
Roberson had 12 points and Conner Williams added 11 to lead PCA, while Ethan Beard had eight points for St. James (1-0), which clamped down late defensively and regained the rebounding edge in the paint to regain control of the game.
“These guys are a year older and they have experience,” Card said. “We talked to them before the game and told them, ‘we’re not little boys any more. You’ve got to go in the paint and finish plays,’ which we had problems with last year.”
St. James travels to Trinity on Friday, while PCA travels to Brew Tech.
PCA girls stay unbeaten while St. James drops first game
St. James coach Katie Barton knew her inexperienced backcourt would be tested by defending 3A state champion Prattville Christian Academy, she just wasn’t sure how they would respond.
The unbeaten Panthers turned an eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter into a 25-point cushion at the half, holding the Trojans to four points in the second period on the way to a 65-29 victory on Tuesday in the PCA gym.
It was the first loss of the season for St. James (6-1) and while it wasn’t unexpected, the margin of defeat was a little surprising.
“We have to mature in our ability to handle pressure and our ability for multiple players to want the ball,” Barton said. “We just have to grow. I don’t think anybody likes to lose. I hate to lose like we just did. I think we played a decent first quarter with them. The second quarter, they came out and just dominated us. We never got into an offense. He took us out of what we were comfortable doing.”
Avery Rogers hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and was fouled on a fourth attempt, making all three free throws for 12 of her 17 points to give PCA a 19-11 lead. Then the Panthers turned up the defensive pressure and turned the game into a one-sided affair.
“We have a lot of the same players back from last year but we’re really a different team,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said. “We’ve done a lot better job mixing in different pressures this year. We’re just trying to get after it a little bit more.
“So far this year, we’ve done what we wanted to do (in changing defensive strategies). Do I feel like our pressure would work well tonight? I felt like it was going to work really good.”
The Panthers converted turnovers into easy baskets on the other end as post players Hannah Jones (10 points) and CoCo Thomas (four points) turned the first-quater lead into a 40-15 lead at the half as Katie Brightwell had the only field goal in the second quarter for the Trojans.
“That set the tone for the rest of the game,” Barton said. “I saw some stuff we did good. But that was the best pressure we’ve seen all year. They’re a really good team, a well coached team and an inside-out game that’s difficult to guard.”
Jones finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Thomas had nine points and seven rebounds.
“We’ve got to work on defending the post a little better,” Barton said. “I’ve got some length in the post, but we don’t go up against that strong a post presence. They’re a good team. My team is a good team but we’re not quite mature enough yet to handle that pressure.”
Ava Card led St. James with 18 points. The Trojans will travel to Trinity on Friday, while PCA (10-0) will travel to Brew Tech.
In the junior varsity game, the St. James girls rolled to a 48-28 victory. Jenna McClendon led the Lady Panthers (1-3) with 17 points and 18 rebounds, followed by Baylee Rogers with five points and LB NeSmith with four points and seven rebounds.
BOYS
Catholic 53, Calhoun 44
LETOHATCHEE -- Brennan Binns had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists as Catholic played for the first time in more than two weeks with a 53-44 win in the Calhoun gym on Tuesday night.
Matthew Reardon added 16 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots to help the Knights remain unbeaten at 3-0. Ethan Binns had seven points and seven rebounds and Johnathan Rhoden had six points and eight rebounds.
Catholic will play host to Autaugaville next Tuesday.
Macon East Academy 69, Edgewood Academy 57
ELMORE -- The Knights scored 20 points in the final eight minutes to rally past the Wildcats 69-57 in the Edgewood gym on Tuesday night.
Maurice Poole scored 20 points, dished out five assists and came up with four steals to help Macon East, followed by Tyler Daniels with 14 points, and 10 rebounds, Brandon Wilkins with 15 points and five rebounds and Keegan Roney with nine points and seven rebounds.
Austin Champion led the Wildcats with 19 points, followed by Brody Whitt with 13 points and nine rebounds and Gabe LeMaster with 11 points and seven rebounds. Cooper Hall also had seven rebounds.
Edgewood (1-4) remains home to play Fort Dale on Thursday and Lowndes on Friday, while Macon East will travel to Hooper on Saturday and Pike Liberal on Monday.
Pike Road 63, Marbury 42
PIKE ROAD -- Jayden Cooper had 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, a pair of blocked shots and three steals to lead the Patriots to a season sweep of the Bulldogs in their 2021-22 home opener on Tuesday night.
Alijah Harris added 11 points for Pike Road (3-2), which travels to Autaugaville on Friday.
Trinity 65, LaFayette 64
The Wildcats saw a double-digit, fourth-quarter quarter lead slip through their fingers after four consecutive turnovers before Mac Stewart stepped to the free-throw line with 1:30 remaining and hit both free throws to put Trinity ahead for good.
Cal Bennett led all scorers with 24 points, along with nine rebounds. Stewart had eight points and five assists and Mac Davis also had eight points. Chapman Pouncey had a great defensive game which included four steals.
Trinity (4-1) will play host to Trinity on Friday.
GIRLS
Stanhope Elmore 81, BTW Magnet 24
MILLBROOK -- Six players had nine or more points as the Mustangs jumped out to a 22-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised to an easy win over BTW Magnet in the Stanhope Elmore gym on Tuesday.
Kelbi Johnson led Stanhope Elmore with 16 points, followed by Summer Hicks with 15, Jada Mcleod with 13, Ariel Gilchrist with 10 and Rylee Williams and Jace Haynes with nine points each.
Amaya Cleveland led BTW Magnet with 16 points.
Stanhope Elmore remains home to play Elmore County on Thursday.
Montgomery Academy 52, Alabama Christian 17
Chloe Johnson scored 18 points to lead Montgomery Academy to an easy win over Alabama Christian in the ACA gym on Tuesday night.
Hayes Jenkins added 14 points and Virginia Meachum had 13 points for Montgomery Academy (2-2).
Montgomery Academy’s next two games have been postponed because of the football team’s participation in the Super 7 Championships and will be rescheduled at a later date. The Eagles’ next game is at home on Monday against 7A power Vestavia Hills at 6 p.m.
Edgewood Academy 67, Macon East Academy 26
ELMORE -- The Wildcats used a 22-0 run in the second quarter to pull away from the Knights on Tuesday in the Edgewood gym.
Edgewood (2-3) snapped a three-game skid with four 3-pointers in the second quarter to extend a six-point lead into a comfortable 44-14 margin at the half.
Lindsey Brown led Edgewood with 19 points, followed by Jaylyn Strength with 13 and Lexie Smith with eight.
Maddie Ross led Macon East with 18 points.
Edgewood remains home against Fort Dale on Thursday and Lowndes on Friday, while Macon East travels to Hooper on Saturday.
Pike Road 49, Marbury 36
PIKE ROAD -- Jazzlyn Johnson had 10 points, six rebounds and four steals to lead the Patriots to a 49-36 win over Marbury on Tuesday night in the Pike Road gym.
Kelsey Williams added nine points and four steals, followed by Gracie Brahman with eight points, 10 rebounds and six steals and Jada Roberts with nine points and six steals.
Pike Road (4-1) travels to Autaugaville on Friday.
Hooper Academy 49, Meadowview Christian 20
HOPE HULL -- Victoria Hagemann scored 23 points to lead the Colts past Meadowiew Christian 49-20 at Darrell Self Memorial Gym on Tuesday.
Sydney Dicks and Hanna Reed had 10 and eight points, respectively, as the Colts built a 24-12 halftime lead.
Meadowview was led by Ella Grace Lewis with 10 points.
Hooper (3-2) hosts Macon East on Saturday at noon.