PREP BRIEFS: MA, LAMP battle in AHSAA state tennis tourney; PCA softball tops Thorsby

COMBINED REPORTS

GIRLS TENNIS

Three Montgomery Academy players reach 7A finals

MOBILE -- Defending No. 1 singles champion Gabby Barrera of Montgomery Academy was one of three Eagles who reached the championship round of the Class 7A state tennis tournament on Monday at the Mobile Tennis Center.

Other MA players in the finals are No. 2 singles player Mae Mae Voltz, who won the championship at No. 3 singles last year, and No. 3 singles player Lola Campbell. 

The other three Montgomery Academy singles players -- Marianna Lassner, Mary Surea White and Alyssa Kaplan -- lost in the quarterfinals.

Barrera and Voltz also advanced to the doubles semifinals. The championships in both singles and doubles will be played on Tuesday. 

Vestavia Hills leads the competition after the first day with 27 points and placed four singles players in the finals, giving the Rebels a comfortable lead in the chase for the team championship over Huntsville (with 21 points) and Auburn (20). Montgomery Academy is in fourth with 15 points. 

Barrera will face Huntsville High freshman Mazie MacGrotty in the championship match on Tuesday, while Voltz will face Vestavia Hills’ junior Kenley Outzen. 

LAMP in fourth place in 4A-5A tournament after first day

MOBILE -- Three singles players and two doubles teams from LAMP remain alive as the 4A-5A state tennis tournament resumes play on Tuesday with semifinals and finals at the Mobile Tennis Center, but it’s doubtful anyone will be able to catch UMS-Wright.

The Bulldogs amassed 42 points on the opening day of the tournament for a comfortable 11-point lead over second-place Russellville. Jasper is third with 31 points, followed by LAMP with 26.

The Golden Tigers lost their No. 2 singles player, Hannah Lee, in the first round of the tournament and their No. 1 player, Reena Chen in a three-set tiebreaker to Jasper’s Ady Preston in the second round.

No. 3 Grace Liu, No. 4 Dabeen Choi and No. 5 McKenzie Kim remain alive entering the second day of the competition, as do the No. 2 doubles team of Chen and Kim and the No. 3 team of Choi and Hannah Baik.  

BOYS TENNIS

Montgomery Academy has tough draw, places sixth in 7A tournament

MOBILE -- Defending state champion Vestavia Hills placed all six players in the singles finals, including four who defeated Montgomery Academy players on the way to the finals at the Class 7A state tennis tournament at Mobile Tennis Center.

Montgomery Academy’s No. 2 doubles team of Ron Sharma and Ford Morano reached the semifinals by beating Andy Park and Nathen Chiu of Bob Jones in the quarterfinals and will face Florence’s Jake Champion and Jack White on Tuesday in the semifinals.

All the other Eagles were eliminated on Monday, with No. 3 singles player Edwin Wu and No. 4 Morano falling to Vestavia Hills’ Andrew Pipkin and Brayden Helms in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Anton Yang and No. 6 Duncan McInnes losing to the Rebels’ Louis Kolettis and Parker Liu in the semifinals. 

Montgomery Academy’s No. 1 singles player, John Alford, lost in the quarterfinals to Fairhope’s Porter Hornigold, while the No. 2 player, Jackson Brown, lost to Jonah Moro of Bob Jones.

The Eagles’ No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams were eliminated in the quarterfinals. 

Pending the finish of Sharma and Morano on Tuesday, the Eagles are likely to finish in sixth place among the eight teams. Vestavia Hills leads the competition with 33 points, followed by Auburn (20), Florence (17), Hoover (13), Bob Jones (12) and Montgomery Academy (9). 

LAMP in third after first day of 4A-5A tournament

MOBILE -- Defending 4A-5A state tennis champion LAMP still has some life left but will face a challenge in overtaking Houston Academy in the state tennis tournament at Mobile Tennis Center.

The chase for the 4A-5A crown resumes today with semifinals and finals remaining and three of the top four players for LAMP have been eliminated.

No. 2 singles player Ian Kim, No. 5 singles player Richard Chen and No. 6 singles player Wonjun Lee remain alive in the championship chase, as do the Golden Tigers’ No. 1 doubles team of Ian Shin and Sun Ho Kim and the No. 3 team of Minsoo Park and Chen.

Houston Academy leads the 20-team field with 44 points, followed by Jasper (34), LAMP (33), Deshler (32), Russellville (25) and Boaz (22).

The Golden Tigers’ chances of repeating as state champions suffered a huge blow when Shin was defeated at No. 1 singles in the second round by Jasper’s William Johnson and both Sun Ho Kim (at No. 3 singles) and Minsoo Park (at No. 4) lost third-set tiebreakers.

SOFTBALL

Prattville Christian 4, Thorsby 1

PRATTVILLE -- Laura Beth NeSmith picked up the win in the circle and Kandice Crosby provided help at the plate and in the circle as the Panthers defeated Thorsby 4-1 on Monday. 

Crosby had a double and an RBI at the plate, while entering the game in relief of NeSmith and earning the save in the circle. Erin Williams added a single for the Panthers. 

PCA (22-4) remains home to play St. James in a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 4 p.m.

Catholic 16, Montgomery Academy 3 (5)

Riley Wilcoxson doubled and hit a pair of home runs in four at-bats, scoring three times and driving in eight runs to help the Knights to an easy 16-3 win over Montgomery Academy on Monday at Catholic.

Gabby Eady went 3 for 3 with a double, scoring once and driving in a run, Haley Ishman scored twice and had an RBI double and Anna Hill went 1 for 2, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs. 

Eady pitched the first two innings for the Knights, allowing two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out one. Jennifer Looney pitched the final three innings, allowing one run on two hits while walking one and striking out five.

Catholic will close out the regular season with a game against Trinity on Tuesday before hosting the 4A Area 4 Tournament at home on Friday. Booker T. Washington and LAMP will open the double-elimination tournament with a 10 a.m. game, with Catholic facing the winner at 11:45 a.m. The championship game will start at 3:30 p.m. 

GIRLS SOCCER

Prattville Christian 7, Brew Tech 3

PRATTVILLE -- Avery Rogers scored four goals and assisted on another to lead Prattville Christian to a 7-3 win over the Rams on Monday at Panther Stadium. 

Addison Sutton added a goal and a pair of assists, while Bella Carothers had two assists and both Ella Pegg and Anabelle Weedon scored a goal. 

Kendall Jordan recorded the victory in goal. 

PCA (6-9) will host Holtville on Tuesday.

Montgomery Academy 5, Dothan 4

DOTHAN -- Montgomery Academy jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes, but needed a game-winning kick from Madison Yi to close out the regular season with a 5-4 win over the Wolves on Monday.

Mary Elizabeth Cole scored a pair of goals and Sophia Cho added another for a 3-0 lead but the Wolves scored a pair of goals late in the first half to trim the halftime deficit to 3-2. Dothan rode the momentum early in the second half with a pair of quick goals to take a 4-3 lead before the Eagles rallied in the final 10 minutes. 

Cho’s free kick from 35 yards out made it 4-4 with eight minutes left and Yi added the game winner for a 5-4 win.

Montgomery Academy (10-3-1) returns home to play Stanhope Elmore (3-15-3) in the first round of the 6A state soccer playoffs at McLemore Field on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER

Prattville Christian 5, Brew Tech 5

PRATTVILLE -- Cade Segars scored four goals and assisted on a fifth, but the Panthers and the Rams finished tied 5-5 on Monday at Panther Stadium. 

Liam Taylor scored the Panthers’ other goal and assisted on two of Segars’ goals. 

PCA (5-9-1) remains home to play Autaugaville on Tuesday. 

Montgomery Academy 2, Dothan 2

DOTHAN -- Jacob Stubblefield scored a pair of goals to help Montgomery Academy salvage a 2-2 tie with the Wolves on Monday in the Eagles’ final regular season game.

Montgomery Academy started out strong, maintaining possession and creating early chances in the game. After Stubblefield’s 13th goal this season for a 1-0 lead, the Eagles’ defense had trouble containing AUM commitment Mason Roe (AUM commit), who found the net on an individual play to make it 1-1.

On a high press play, Montgomery Academy was able to get the ball back close to the opponents’ goal and Stubblefield scored his second goal of the night and his 14th of the season. His 14 goals and 11 assists trail only Brewer Welch, who has 25 goals and 12 assists. 

Montgomery Academy (12-5-1) returns home to face Stanhope Elmore in the first round of the 6A state soccer playoffs on Thursday at McLemore Field at 7 p.m.