CHAPMAN BOYS TOURNEY: MA earns shorthanded win over Marbury; Pike Road, Brew Tech win

Montgomery Academy’s Mason Ellis splits Marbury defenders Ayden Wyatt (13) and D'Anthony Smith during MA’s win in the Larry Chapman Tourney. Ellis finished with 35 points in the win. (Ryan Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Montgomery Academy played Monday’s season opener with just three players who had any varsity experience from last year’s state championship run.

It turned out they only needed one.

Mason Ellis scored a career-high 35 points, singlehandedly leading the Eagles to a 60-34 win over Marbury in the opening round of the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tip-Off Classic at Montgomery Academy’s Joe Mooty Court on Monday.

“Mason was really, really good,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant said. “We knew what Mason was coming into the season. I don’t know if a lot of people know what Mason is, but Mason is an elite player. I think people are about to find out how good he is.”

With the team’s top two scorers, Braden Gordon and Jarrett Friendly, held out of competition (along with football teammates) after participating in Friday’s quarterfinal playoff game, the bulk of the scoring was going to fall on the shoulders of Ellis, the sophomore point guard who was the most experienced player on the floor for the Eagles.

“He knew he had to be aggressive coming into the game and he did a good job,” Arant said. “He wasn’t too aggressive and he wasn’t passive. He played a really good game.”

Ellis scored 16 of the team’s 17 first-quarter points and had 25 points at the half, finishing with 35 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Montgomery Academy extended its lead to 21 points at the half and 25 by the end of the third quarter as several other players started finding their range. Jay Jay Jackson had seven points, three rebounds and three steals, Will Renfroe had five points, eight rebounds and three steals, Caleb Myles had five points and six rebounds and Vincent Desautels had five point and seven rebounds.

“I haven’t even been at practice, so our staff has done an incredible job with our young players,” Arant said. “We had one senior out there today (Renfroe) and we had a couple of juniors who don’t have a lot of varsity expeirence and the rest were sophomores. Our staff -- coach (Reg) Mantooth, coach (Glenn) Sylvest and coach (Gerald) Williams -- has done an incredible job with those guys the last four weeks, getting them ready to compete, which I thought they did a good job of.

“We did a lot of (scrappy play), guys who just battled their tails off. Without Braden and Jarrett, our two biggest players (were) Robert McGaughey, who is way undersized and Caleb Myles, a guard we put in there (in the paint). Paxton (Haigler) and Chapman (Baker) are way undersized but they come off the bench and they’re just in there battling. Vincent Desautels is a JV player who probably had eight rebounds and he’s just tipping it when he can’t grab it, doing everything they can to keep it alive.”

Montgomery Academy will play Brew Tech in the second round of the tournament on Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Noah Trotter led Marbury (2-3) with 11 points, followed by Jalen Hall with eight. The Bulldogs will play Prattville Christian on Tuesday, also at 1 p.m.  

Pike Road 61, St. James 39

Braylon Barker led a balanced attack with 10 points as the Patriots jumped out to a commanding lead in the second quarter and held off the Trojans 61-39 in the opening round of the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tip-Off Tournament on Monday.

St. James (1-1) will face Handley in the second round of the tournament on Tuesday at 4 p.m., while Pike Road will play Lee-Scott Academy, also at 4 p.m.

William Fuhrman hit a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter as part of a 26-5 run that put the Patriots in control.

Wilson Aman scored seven of his 12 points in the first quarter as the Trojans tried to keep pace in the first half. Jordan Williams accounted for the Trojans’ remaining five points in the first quarter and finished with nine points.

Brew Tech 48, Prattville Christian 44

Cody Chapman led the Panthers with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals in a 48-44 loss to the Rams in the opening round of the Coach Larry Chapman Foundation Tip-Off Classic on Monday.

Justin Chapman added eight points, eight rebounds and four steals, followed by CJ Robinson with six points and nine rebounds and Carter Fiacco with six points and four rebounds.

Wade Mora added five points, 10 rebounds and four steals and Ethan Kiefer grabbed four rebounds. PCA (3-3) returns to action in the tournament on Tuesday against Marbury at 1 p.m.

COACH LARRY CHAPMAN FOUNDATION TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT

at Montgomery Academy

BOYS

Monday’s results

Game 1 -- Lee-Scott Academy 58, Handley 56

Game 2 -- Brewbaker Tech 48, Prattville Christian 44

Game 3 -- Pike Road 61, St. James 39

Game 4 -- Montgomery Academy 60, Marbury 34

Tuesday’s schedule

Game 5 -- Brewbaker Tech vs. Montgomery Academy -- 1 p.m.

Game 6 -- Prattville Christian vs. Marbury -- 1 p.m.

Game 7 -- Lee-Scott Academy vs. Pike Road -- 4 p.m.

Game 8 -- Handley vs. St. James -- 4 p.m.

Wednesday’s schedule

Game 9 -- Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8 -- 10:30 a.m.

Game 10 -- Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8 -- 10:30 a.m.

Game 11 -- Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 5 -- noon

Game 12 -- Championship Game, Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7 -- 3 p.m.