GIRLS HOOPS: St. James blasts MA; Trinity earns road win; ACA topples Holtville
Emilyn Trott drives past Sydney Johnston in St. James win over MA on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
After touring the state for a pair of tournaments in late December, the St. James girls returned home to host Dallas County and Montgomery Academy in a pair of area games this week.
The focus, St. James coach Katie Barton said, was on maintaining the same level of play regardless of the opponent.
“We can’t have an eight-game stretch through January where we aren’t playing our brand of basketball with the intensity that we need to play because in the playoffs those would be the habits that we’re forming,” Barton said. “That’s what we’re preaching in January, the standard is the standard. It doesn’t matter who our opponent is, we’ve got to focus on us.”
After blasting through Dallas County 102-17 earlier in the week, the Trojans took care of Montgomery Academy in quick fashion on Friday, winning 87-14 to remain unbeaten in 3A Area 5 play at 2-0.
The Trojans led 24-0 less than six minutes into the game before a Garland Thomas free throw finally put the Eagles on the board with 2:14 remaining. It was more than two quarters later before a Bailey Davis 3-pointer provided Montgomery Academy with its first field goal with 37 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 61-8.
“We pride ourselves on trying to make opponents take tough shots,” Barton said. “Maybe we try to speed them up a little bit on defense. I’m sure (holding MA without a field goal for nearly three quarters) has something to do with us. We ran five different defenses tonight so we can work on fine-tuning all of those and I made sure everybody got good quality minutes.”
Natalie Barton led the Trojans with 23 points, two rebounds, five steals and six assists, followed by Jordyn McRae with 17 points, six rebounds, six steals, an assist and three blocked shots and Kaitlin Mitchell with 16 points, a rebound and a pair of steals. Kaden Fair added 13 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and four assists, Morgan Lilly had five points, eight rebounds and six assists, Lilly Stanford had five points, four rebounds and a steal and Elliette Barton had five points, two rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Thomas led Montgomery Academy with five points. Kate Champion added four points as the only Eagle with multiple field goals in the game.
“I thought there were several possessions that we were so antsy and anxious to get the ball -- we played defense with such intensity the girls want the ball -- and then sometimes when we got it, we forced it a little bit,” Barton said. “But we have eight area games. Our girls are a hard working team, a very talented group of girls and no matter who we play we’ve got to go out and get better.”
St. James (16-3) will remain home and play host to Alabama Christian in an area game on Monday. Montgomery Academy (6-10) dropped to 2-1 in area play and will play host to Thorsby in an area game on Tuesday.
Trinity 55, Booker T. Washington 23
TUSKEGEE -- Lilly Smith had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead the Wildcats to a 55-23 win over the Golden Eagles in a 4A Area 5 game in the BTW gym on Friday night.
Ellie Causey added 12 points, four rebounds and four steals, followed by Lizzie Causey with nine points and six rebounds.
Trinity (11-6) improved to 2-1 in area play and will play host to Lee-Scott Academy on Monday.
Alabama Christian 33, Holtville 24
HOLTVILLE -- Adalyn Newkirk scored 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds to help the Eagles snap a four-game losing streak with a 33-24 win over the Bulldogs in the Holtville gym on Friday.
Addison Smith added six points, five rebounds and five assists and Campbell Hammett had six points, eight rebounds and four steals for ACA.
Alabama Christian (6-8) travels to St. James on Monday for a 3A Area 5 game.
Prattville Christian 76, Holt 23
PRATTVILLE -- Reagan Houston had 15 points and four assists as the Panthers remained unbeaten in 4A Area 6 play with a 76-23 rout of Holt in the PCA gym on Friday night.
Baylee Rogers added 14 points and nine assists, followed by Avery Mann with 14 points, Leah Cate Wilson with 11 points and nine rebounds and Laney Little with 10 points and six rebounds. Mitra Mora had nine points and five rebounds and Kayleigh Arthur scored three points.
PCA (8-11) improved to 4-0 in area play and will remain home to face Elmore County on Monday.