CCC TOURNEY PREVIEW: Trinity girls adjusting after three straight titles
Trinity is led by Lilly Smith, Ellie Causey (4) and Emory Causey (31) this season. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
The Trinity girls bsasketball team may not be the same team that won three consecutive championships in 2023, 2024 and 2025, but don’t tell the Wildcats they can’t challenge for a fourth title in 2026. They have a triple threat in Elizabeth Causey, Ellison Causey and Emory Causey.
“I would say that we have a unique opportunity to be fun in a different way,” Emory said. “We’re not going to be as dominant as we were last year, but we have an opportunity to come in with a chip on our shoulder and prove to everyone we can play a good game of basketball for 32 minutes. We’re going to be aggressive defensively, we’re going to knock down shots and grit our way through some games.”
The trio came to Trinity three years ago. Megan Smith, who assists her husband Blake, the head basketball coach, was a Troy volleyball teammate of Luann Causey, the girls’ mother.
“She had been the coach at Briarwood and resigned from that position,” Blake said. “When they moved, I don’t think there was a question of where they were going to come.”
With Maddie Smith, Mya Moskowitz and Francie Morris starting the last two years, there wasn’t a lot of playing time available for three sisters. Ellison, or Ellie, would see the most playing time because of her deadly 3-point accuracy.
“Ellie’s been in the lineup the whole time,” Blake Smith said, “and that’s because she’s the perfect complement to the players that we had. Her skill set allowed her to be in the lineup. But the other side of that is it lets you have two or three girls who aren’t starting but are competitive so it makes your practices so much better.”
With Maddie Smith, Moskowitz and Morris graduating last May, the Wildcats lost a little of their offensive explosiveness. What replaced it was a gritty determination led by three sisters.
“It frees them up to be a little more of what they are,” Blake Smith said. “There’s a positive and a negative to having great players in your program. Sometimes that means maybe what you do well doesn’t get to come out until those people are gone. All three of them have a different, unique thing they bring to the court.
“I would say Lizzie’s (best attribute) is she’s gritty, she’s going to play hard, but she shoots the ball a lot better than anyone else knows. She’s the enforcer. She’s tough and defends very well. Emory is an all-around good player who does everything pretty good. She’s smart, so she knows a lot of what’s going on. She’s kind of a utility player who does it all pretty well. Ellie is harder (to define) because she gets lumped in as a shooter. She does a lot of things well, but obviously she’s known as a shooter.”
Ellie Causey’s shooting ability made her a threat last year, but Lizzie’s emergence this season has helped the Wildcats to some early success on the court and taken a little pressure off her sister.
“I feel like everyone says I’m the most gritty player,” Lizzie said, “but I feel like a part of that is I would do anything for Coach Blake, so part of that is showing my love for him on the court. We’ve definitely lost a lot of scorers, so I’ve just been trying to step up to the plate. Ellie’s really good at that, but I’m trying to take some pressure off her.”
The Wildcats are still searching for an offensive identity and can use the challenge of facing larger schools such as JAG or Wetumpka and athletic teams such as Midfield in the 31st annual Jack Schweers Capital City Conference Tournament that tips off Thursday afternoon at Trinity.
Trinity (8-3) will need contributions from Ellie (who is averaging 18 points and five rebounds), Lizzie (10 points, five rebounds and three steals) and Emory (seven points, three rebounds and three steals). Blake Smith admits there were times earlier in their varsity careers when he couldn’t help but confuse the trio of sisters.
“I still do that,” he said, “but I know in my mind who I’m calling. I just say the wrong name.”
When he sends all three out on the court at the same time, it can cause some lively interaction at times.
“We had just played Lee-Scott and I threw the ball to Emory and it literally went through her hands and I screamed at her,” Lizzie recalled. “She got mad at me but we don’t take it personally. Even when Maddie and Francie were here, on the court you shouldn’t take anything personally because we’re all trying to win.”
“Because we’re sisters, we know where each other is coming from when people say stuff like that,” Emory added. “She can get emotional sometimes and sometimes she directs that at me but I’d rather her direct that at me than someone else. So I don’t ever take it personally.”
The competitive spirit, as you would imagine, is escalated among the trio of sisters.
“No one ever brags, but when we used to train and play one-on-one, it used to be pretty competitive,” Ellie said.
“Even now, we’ll get competitive when we’re in the gym alone, but we are definitely all pulling for each other,” Lizzie said.
“They’re both naturally more aggressive, especially in practice (where) there’s no whistles,” Emory said. “So you’ve got to have the freedom to be a little more aggressive. But (every Trinity player) is like that, not just the three of us.”
After winning three consecutive state championships, Trinity is a marked team. But if the sisters feel any pressure from having a target on their backs, they don’t show it.
“I personally have felt more free and less pressure this year,” Emory said. “I think we have the opportunity to go out and prove people wrong. We don’t have a lot to lose. I think last year the expectations were really high and there was a lot of pressure to meet those. This year, it’s kind of the opposite.”
“I kind of like being in the shadows,” Lizzie added. “No one really knows me as a shooter, so I don’t feel pressure to make shots because no one thinks I can shoot. No one thinks this team is going to make it far (in the playoffs). So, like, fine, we’ll show you how far we can make it. Our hard work will pay off.”
31st JACK SHWEERS CAPITAL CITY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
at Trinity Presbyterian School
GIRLS
Thursday
Game 1 -- Trinity vs. JAG, 3 p.m.
Game 2 -- G.W. Long vs. Wetumpka, 6 p.m.
Game 3 -- Catholic vs. Glenwood School, 3 p.m.
Game 4 -- Midfield vs. Prattville Christian, 6 p.m.
Friday
Game 5 -- Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5 p.m.
Game 6 -- Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2 p.m.
Game 7 -- Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 2 p.m.
Game 8 -- Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5 p.m.
Saturday
Game 9 -- Seventh place, Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, noon
Game 10 -- Fifth place, Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 10:30 a.m.
Game 11 -- Third place, Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 10:30 a.m.
Game 12 -- Championship Game, Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, noon
BOYS
Thursday
Game 1 -- Trinity vs. BTW Magnet, 4:30 p.m.
Game 2 -- Prattville Christian vs. Marina (Calif.), 7:30 p.m.
Game 3 -- Catholic vs. Glenwood School, 4:30 p.m.
Game 4 -- G.W. Long vs. Gulf Shores, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Game 5 -- Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6 -- Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 6:30 p.m.
Game 7 -- Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 3:30 p.m.
Game 8 -- Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday
Game 9 -- Seventh place, Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 1:30 p.m.
Game 10 -- Fifth place, Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 9 a.m.
Game 11 -- Third place, Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 9 a.m.
Game 12 -- Championship Game, Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 1:30 p.m.