PREP UPDATE: Catholic boys earn Area tourney title; Marbury wins fifth straight area tournament
Catholic’s Mylez Gourdine sends a pass to Devin Hampton (12) in the Knights’ win on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Was it the 4A Area 5 tournament championship that provided the spark? Or maybe it was Booker T. Washington. It might have even been Catholic’s uninspiring performance against Tallassee in the area tournament semifinals that drew a little criticism from head coach Mike Curry.
“All of the above,” Curry said. “I think it was a combination of things. We’ve been playing better. The other night, we played well for three quarters. We talked about having consistency and playing good for longer stretches and they bought into it.
“I think it was all those things. Being it was the area championship, being it was BTW, being that we kind of took our foot off the gas in some of these games.”
Whatever the cause, the Knights saved their best for BTW, putting on an impressive display of ball handling, rebounding and shooting to dispose of the Golden Eagles 79-66 to win the area tournament and advance to the postseason on a roll.
“These are the moments you live for,” said tournament most valuable player Matthias Gourdine. “Coach always said that it all comes to fruition when you give it all on the court.”
The team that had reached the finals of the area tournament for seven consecutive years before losing in the semifinals in 2024 and 2025 found its swagger at the right time, rallying from a 7-0 deficit early against the Golden Eagles, then pulling away in impressive fashion in the fourth quarter.
They did it with a fast paced, loose playing style that fit the opponent, scoring 18 points in the first quarter, 20 in the second and 23 in the third to build a 12-point lead heading into the final quarter.
“It’s kind of a rivalry game,” Gourdine said. “We like running transition, playing fast, pitching the ball. We work on that in practice a lot.”
Even when Gourdine went to the bench with two early personal fouls with three minutes remaining in the first quarter, the offense didn’t suffer, continuing its rally to cut the deficit to one point at the end of the first quarter. It could have been a frustrating moment for Gourdine, waiting to return to the game, but the entertaining play of his teammates continued as if he was still in the game.
“It’s not frustrating at all,” Gourdine said. “I trust my teammates a lot. I know they can win the game without me.”
As Catholic slowed to a more deliberate pace in the fourth quarter, trying to be more selective on its shots, Booker T. Washington cut the lead to three points with four minutes left. The Knights shifted back into high gear, using a three-point play by Mylez Gourdine to trigger a 9-0 run that propeled Catholic to its first area tournament title since beating BTW in 2023 on the way to the state tournament in Birmingham.
“It gives us a little satisfaction,” Matthias Gourdine said. “We like the area championship, but this is not our final goal. We’re trying to get up to the starte championship, win a state championship and bring it back to Montgomery Catholic.”
Gourdine finished with 32 points and three assists, followed by MJ Belser with 21 points, 15 rebounds and three steals and Mylez Gourdine with 11 points, four assists, four steals and four rebounds.
Joining Matthias Gourdine on the all-tournament team were Kameron Tatum and Raymond Minor of Booker T. Washington, along with Belser and Mylez Gourdine of Catholic.
Minor led the Golden Eagles with 20 points, followed by Tatum with 16, Marvin Knight with 13 and James Henderson with 12.
Catholic (15-10) will remain home to play Munford in a sub-regional game on Saturday at 6 p.m., while Booker T. Washington will travel to Anniston for a sub-regional game.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Marbury 75, BTW Magnet 39
MARBURY -- Noah Trotter scored 24 points to lead the Bulldogs to their fifth consecutive area tournament championship, defeating BTW Magnet 75-39 in the Marbury gym on Wednesday night.
Marbury will remain home to play Valley in a sub-regional game on Saturday at 6 p.m., while BTW Magnet will travel to Eclectic to play Elmore County in a sub-regional game on Saturday.
Trotter also had two assists and four steals to lead a balanced attack. CJ Cook had 14 points, five rebounds and three steals, followed by Jalen Hall with 12 points and 11 rebounds, Jamar Brown with 10 points, five rebounds, eight assists and four steals and Aden Burdette with eight points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
GIRLS SOCCER
Catholic 5, Charles Henderson 2
TROY -- Ellis O’Connor scored three goals and handed out assists on two others as the Knights won the 2026 season opener with a 5-2 win over Charles Henderson on Tuesday night.
Eighth grader Amelia Pettah scored the Knights’ other two goals, both on assists from O’Connor.
Junior Aurora Lemuz assisted on two O’Connor goals and her third goal came on a penalty kick for handling in the box by Charles Henderson.
Goalkeeping duties were handled by freshman Kyleigh Harris, who finished the game with two saves and two goals against.
Catholic (1-0) will return to action against Trinity in the Capital of Dreams High School Tournament Thursday at the Emory Folmar Soccer Complex at 6:30 p.m.
BOYS TENNIS
Montgomery Academy 9, Central-Phenix City 0
Montgomery Academy 9, Smiths Station 0
SMITHS STATION -- Montgomery Academy swept the singles and doubles competition against Central High on Tuesday, then did the same against Smiths Station in a pair of Class 7A Section 2 matches.
In the first match, Jackson Brown, Liam Baker, Duncan Mcinnis, Ford Morano, Anton Yang and Bo Johnston won singles matches. In the doubles matches, Brown-McInnis, Morano-Blevins Henderson and Yang-Johnston recorded wins.
Brown’s victory in singles gave the senior his 90th career singles victory.
In the second match, Brown, Baker, McInnis, Morano, Yang and Johnston won singles matches, while Brown-Baker, Morano-Henderson and Yang-Johnston won doubles matches.
Montgomery Academy (4-0 overall, 2-0 in section play) will travel to Homewood for a match with the Patriots on Thursday.
GIRLS TENNIS
Montgomery Academy 9, Central-Phenix City 0
Montgomery Academy 9, Smiths Station 0
SMITHS STATION -- Montgomery Academy swept the singles and doubles competition against Central High on Tuesday, then did the same against Smiths Station in a pair of Class 7A Section 2 matches at Cliff Farrar Tennis Center.
In the first match, singles winners were Lola Campbell, Alyssa Kaplan, Mary Surhea White, Charlotte Vann, Lillian Cameron and Sailor Vance. Doubles winners were Campbell-Kaplan, White-Vann and Cameron-Vance.
In the second match, singles winners were Campbell, Kaplan, White, Vann, Cameron and Vance. Doubles winners were Campbell-Kaplan, White-Vann and Cameron-Vance.
Montgomery Academy (1-2) improved to 2-0 in 7A Section 2 play.