CLASS 4A, AREA 5 BOYS TOURNEY: Catholic ends playoff drought; BTW eliminates Trinity
Trinity’s Kamari Hutson attempts to dribble past James Henderson of BTW in Monday’s Class 4A, Area 5 semifinal game at Catholic. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Three-pointers by Jake Wilson and Wilson Cherry late in the second quarter brought Trinity within six points at halftime in its battle with Booker T. Washington in the 4A Area 5 tournament semifinals at Catholic on Monday afternoon.
But unlike many of the Wildcats’ previous battles, games that went to the wire, this was as close as they would get. Trinity made just one field goal in the second half and suffered an agonizing end to the season in a flurry of turnovers and missed shots that resulted in a 52-26 loss to the Golden Eagles.
Booker T. Washington will advance to the area tournament finals on Wednesday at 6 p.m., while Trinity ends the season at 9-16, having lost 11 of their final 13 games.
“Obviously, we got off to a tough start,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “I don’t think we were ready for the intensity that Tuskegee brought to the game. They were all in us and it took us a minute to adjust to that. But credit to our guys. They stuck to the game plan defensively and then we settled in offensively and were able to cut it to six points.”
Booker T. Washington led 14-5 at the end of the first quarter, but the Wildcats pulled back into the game with the 3-pointers by Wilson and Cherry, cutting the deficit to 25-19 at the half.
“In the second half, we just had a really difficult time getting the ball into the basket,” Arrighi said. “We were bothered by their pressure most of the night, but I still thought we got pretty looks at the rim and pretty good looks outside. We just had a hard time making them go into the basketball. Twenty-six points isn’t enough to beat anybody, much less a good team.”
Kamari Hutson’s 3-pointer late in the third quarter trimmed the deficit to 37-24, the only field goal in the second half for the Wildcats.
Raymond Minor led BTW with 16 points, followed by James Henderson with 12 and Kameron Tatum with 11.
Hutson led Trinity with 11 points, followed by Cherry with seven.
“Today, you try to focus on your seniors and thank them for the season,” Arrighi said. “Tomorrow, we’ll come in and address the things for the future. We’ve got seven guys back on this team, so a lot of guys back. We know what needs to be addressed, I just need our guys to buy in to that message.”
Catholic’s Matt Gourdine scores on a one-handed shot in the Knights’ win over Tallassee on Monday. (Tim Gayle)
Catholic 64, Tallassee 53
After seven consecutive trips to the postseason, Catholic basketball ended its season in the area tournament semifinals the last two seasons, losing to Bullock County in 2024 and Trinity in 2025. Perhaps that added a little fuel to the fire for Catholic coach Mike Curry, who stayed intense throughout Monday’s area tournament semifinal game with Tallassee.
The Knights avoided the upset, watching a lead whittled to six points before pulling away from the Tigers in the second half in a 64-53 win in the Catholic gym.
Catholic (18-10) won for the ninth time in 10 games, advancing to the 4A Area 5 tournament championship game on Wednesday against Booker T. Washington and earning a berth in the sub-regional game on Saturday.
“I’m happy we won, I’m proud of them for that, but we’ve got to play a whole lot better, a whole lot cleaner,” Curry said. “We didn’t close the game out tonight. We lost our focus, we lost our energy. We were playing the scoreboard. Got up 20 and played the scoreboard late. Credit to (Tallassee), they kept fighting, they kept playing, they believed. We just have to play better down the stretch.”
The Knights took control early, but Tallassee used the 3-point shooting of Tiny Green to keep the game close before a late first-half run put Catholic in control with a 37-25 lead at the half. The Knights would extend that lead to 20 points before the Tigers chipped away late to cut the final deficit to 11.
Green hit five 3-pointers to finish with 16 points. A.T. Hooks added 15.
Matt Gourdine led Catholic with 22 points and seven steals, followed by Devin Hampton with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Mylez Gourdine with 13 points, six assists and three steals and Fred Lewis with seven points, 14 rebounds, two steals and two assists.
The Knights now turn their attention to Booker T. Washington, which split a pair of regular season games with Catholic.
“We know we’ve got two more games,” Curry said. “We’ve got BTW on Wednesday and, win or lose, we’ve got another one (with a sub-regional game). We’re looking to play a little bit better and with a little more consistency on Wednesday. They’re good. We have to rebound. We have to keep big No. 0 (Kameron Tatum) off the glass. No. 5 (Raymond Minor) controls the pace of the game and we have to do a good job defending him and they’ve got a bunch of other guys that make hustle plays. Charvez Davis does a good job with them and we’re going to have our hands full. We’ve got to play a whole lot better for longer stretches to have a chance against them.”