CLASS 3A, AREA 5 GIRLS: Montgomery Academy, St. James move into tourney final
Kaci Armistead drives past Thorsby’s Gracie Huggins in Montgomery Academy’s win in the Class 3A, Area 5 tournament at St. James. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
Montgomery Academy had a comfortable 24-9 lead over Thorsby at the end of the first quarter and extended it to 20 points midway through the second quarter of Saturday’s 3A Area 5 tournament game at St. James.
Then it was gone, with the Eagles clinging to a four-point lead after two of its best players were sitting on the bench in foul trouble and the Rebels had turned up the intensity.
“After halftime, we were just kind of rattled,” Montgomery Academy junior point guard Kaci Armistead said. “It was really important for us to just go out there and slow down the game. When we came out to start the half, they scored back to back to back so it was really important for us to take a breath and say, ‘This isn’t us’ and just flip the mindset.”
After some anxious moments, the Eagles were able to do that at the free-throw line, turning a close game into a 66-56 victory in the Area 5 tournament semifinals.
“We knew we didn’t see their best in the first half,” Montgomery Academy coach Wright Ward said. “They came out hitting and we got in foul trouble early in the third quarter and had to adjust. They went on a run and credit to them. They battled, we knew they would. For us, you’ve got people that are mainstays in the offense but they’re also scorers and contributors so it impacts what you can do offensively but it also changes what they can do defensively. They made adjustments, we got a little loose with the ball at the same time in the third, but we weathered the storm.”
Bailey Davis scored eight points in the first quarter, but ran into foul trouble after picking up her third and fourth personal fouls on consecutive possessions in the third quarter. Garland Thomas also went to the bench with four personal fouls in the third quarter, leaving the Eagles without two of its best playmakers.
“It’s tough because they’re two of the main contributors,” Armistead said, “so being out there without them, it’s hard to produce. They’re threats, so that kind of spreads it out but without them on the court, it was definitely harder to score.”
At that point, Armistead took over. She had scored 13 points in the first half, but added seven more in the fourth quarter after Thorsby had trimmed the deficit to four points. Any time the Eagles needed to bring the ball in bounds or up the floor, the ball went to Armistead, the calming influence after the Rebels had shaken up the Eagles’ lineup.
“When you take two scorers off of the floor, Kaci felt that and she should,” Ward said. “She’s a junior (who has starred) in volleyball and the last couple of years in basketball, so she can embrace that role. We have confidence in what she can do. For me, it was like, ‘OK, she’s got to do more, let’s go.’”
Armistead finished with 20 points, four rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot. Davis added six free throws in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals, followed by Addison Kitchens with 12 points, seven rebounds and an assist and E.G. Hines with eight points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists. Thomas added six points, all at the free-throw line, along with five assists, five steals and two rebounds.
Brooklyn Reeser led Thorsby with 26 points, including 11 in the third quarter as the Rebels outscored the Eagles 23-12 to pull back into the contest. Ava Robinson added 11.
Montgomery Academy (12-14) earned a berth in the sub-regional round with the victory. First, the Eagles will play St. James on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for the area tournament championship.
“Tuesday, we’re just going to go out there and give it the best we’ve got and see what happens,” Armistead said. “And prepare for our game on Friday.”
Montgomery Academy is 21-3 over the last 29 years in the sub-regional round.
“To go into that drought the program was in for the five years before (last season) and to go back-to-back is huge for the development (of the program) and what you’re trying to build,” Ward said. “Tuesday, we’ve got to take on a monster in St. James. I told the girls we’re going to come Tuesday and play hard and battle and whatever happens happens. We’ve still got sub-regional coming up and after Tuesday, we’re going to turn our attention to whoever that is and get ready for that. The goal then is to just keep extending the season.”
St. James 101, Alabama Christian 13
St. James has one of the top girls’ basketball teams in the state in any classification.
Trojan coach Katie Barton isn’t about to apologize for the way the Trojans play.
St. James defeated Alabama Christian 101-13 in the 3A Area 5 tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon, an eye-opening type of score that probably didn’t sit well with ACA fans.
Two of the Trojan reserves were among the leading scorers and while Barton played her starters in every quarter, she limited their playing time in the second half. She purposely stayed away from some of her defensive schemes that likely would have led to a rash of ACA turnovers as well.
“We’ve got to run our course,” Barton said, “and that’s what we’re trying to keep in mind when we approach any opponent we play. Whoever we’re facing, we have to make sure we’re sharp and we’re crisp. Our goal isn’t to score 100 points in a game. Our goal is to try and execute, make sure we can run our halfcourt stuff. We got several transition points but a big part of our scoring is transition. We don’t want to turn into a walk-the-ball-up-the-court team, either. So there’s always a balance in games like this where we’ve got to stay true to ourselves regardless of what the score is.”
Addi Newkirk broke the Trojan press employed in the first couple of minutes, scoring the first ACA basket after St. James had built a 13-0 lead. The Trojans would go on to lead 32-4 at the end of the first quarter and 62-11 at the half.
Natalie Barton led St. James with 18 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals, followed by Lily Stanford with 17 points, three rebounds, an assist and four steals, Kaitlin Mitchell with 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and five steals, Morgan Lilly with 16 points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals, Kaden Fair with 11 points, two rebounds, one assist and four steals and Jordyn McRae with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
After the game, Lilly was honored for her 1,000th career point that came in a game against ACA. The freshman is the youngest girls’ player to ever achieve that mark in school history. She now has 1,075 career points after her 16-point performance on Saturday.
St. James (27-4) will advance to the area tournament finals for the sixth consecutive year, aiming for its fifth area title in that span. The Trojans will face Montgomery Academy on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“We’re excited,” Barton said. “It’s playoff time. We’ve been kind of building like all the other teams across the state. We’re kind of looking at this as a seven-game season now. You’ve got to earn each game you play so we approach it a little different than we did during the regular season. Substitutions might not be the same as during the regular season because I’ve got to make sure I’ve got players’ legs ready for down the road during playoffs.”
Newkirk and Addison Smith both had five points to lead ACA. The Eagles end the season at 9-16.