PREP UPDATE: Trinity, St. James split; Pike Road boys edge Carroll; MA doubles Dallas County
St. James’ Jordan William ties up Trinity’s Wilson Cherry during the Wildcats’ win over the Trojans. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
There were plenty of missed shots by both teams, but when Trinity needed it most, Wilson Cherry delivered.
The Wildcats’ leading scorer hit a 3-pointer in the corner with 10 seconds left to give Trinity a 39-38 overtime victory against St. James in the second meeting between the two teams in the last four days.
The Wildcats lost to the Trojans 47-38 on Saturday in the St. James gym.
“In a lot of ways, it was similar to Saturday,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said, “except I thought we played with better defensive effort today, which was so important and vital to who we are. We’ve just got to find an offensive rhythm. We’re inconsistent. We’ll get there. I’m proud of the guys for finding a way to win.”
Jordan Williams tied the game at 33-33 with a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining in regulation and the Trojans carried that momentum into overtime as Williams assisted on a Wilson Aman three-point play, then added a pair of free throws for a five-point lead. But the Wildcats’ Mackin Roth buried a 3-pointer for Trinity’s only field goal in six overtime attempts and Cherry took an inbounds pass following a timeout and hit the game winner.
“We were kind of desperate,” Arrighi said. “When you’re in desperate times, you want to use your best player to either shoot the ball or be a part of the play. Credit to our guys. We haven’t run that inbounds play yet (this season before then). We just called a timeout and the guys executed it perfectly.”
The Trojans would have one last opportunity but Henry Wright’s 3-point attempt was off the mark and Andrew Shalayda’s hurried putback to beat the buzzer rolled off the rim as time expired.
“They got a better look than we wanted,” Arrighi said. “But the scariest thing is we knew when they shot it, they were all going to crash (the boards for the rebound). They’ve got longer guys than us and they got an even better look on a putback and thankfully it didn’t fall.”
Cherry led Trinity with 13 points, followed by Roth with 12. Williams led St. James with 12 points, followed by Wright and Aman with nine points each.
“That was a tough one,” St. James coach Mark Hall said. “We try to get after teams defensively and a lot of times it’s in that zone. We felt the best chance to be successful was to stay in that zone for most of the game. Give Wilson Cherry credit, he hit a big shot. If he misses it, we win; if he hits it, they win.”
Trinity (5-4) will remain home and play host to LAMP in a 4A Area 5 game on Friday night. St. James (4-4) will return home and play host to Catholic at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. That game was originally set for Catholic, but was moved to St. James to avoid a scheduling conflict.
St. James girls 72, Trinity 36
In the first quarter, Trinity seemed intent on stopping St. James shooting guard Natalie Barton, so point guard Morgan Lilly responded with 10 points. Later in the third quarter, the Wildcats would shift defenses and Barton started raining down shots, scoring 10 points in the third quarter.
There wasn’t a good formula for stopping the high-octane Trojans.
“I think Morgan is a phenomenal player,” Trinity coach Blake Smith said, “but you saw when we went zone toward the end what Natalie can do. She can hit 15 3s on you -- and I’m not saying Morgan can’t -- but in the grand scheme of things, through the course of the game, we don’t want Natalie taking 3s.”
Kaitlin Mitchell added 13 points in the fourth quarter for St. James. By the time the dust settled, the Trojans had rolled to a 72-36 win over the three-time defending state champion Wildcats at Captain Jack Court.
“Morgan came on hot in the first half and Nat kind of found her stroke throughout the game,” St. James coach Katie Barton said. “Overall, it was a good night with even unselfish basketball.”
With St. James returning all of its players from last year’s run to the 3A state finals, the Trojans jumped out to a 9-0 lead and threw several different defensive schemes at the Wildcats to keep Trinity from climbing back into the contest. There were times when Barton would call a timeout to tweak a few things, but the Trojans were relatively unchallenged throughout the contest.
“We ran a couple of different defenses tonight,” Barton said. “There were a few times with some of the things that we were running where we lost assignments. Maybe this game isn’t the most important game of the season, but we can’t afford to lose assignments in a game that is.”
Trinity, on the other hand, is rebuilding from the loss of three standout seniors that carried the team to three consecutive state championships, so a new lineup needed a test to gauge its effectiveness.
“What we wanted to know, going in, is can we guard them decently,” Smith said, “to which we’re proud of inside our program. That might not look right on the scoreboard but things we’re trying to do, can we accomplish them? We thought there were a lot of times we did that. Now there were times we didn’t.
“The other thing was, we were very glad of some of the shots we were getting. The part that bothered us was some of the struggles we had handling the ball. I’ll be interested to see how many points that turned into. I’ll bet they had 20 points off of turnovers.”
The Wildcats often worked themselves into good shots, only to see rushed shots miss the mark or hurried 3-pointers stray off target.
“You’ve got to face people who can make you feel uncomfortable in order to get better,” Smith said. “I think it’s funny that people don’t want to play them. It just means you don’t want to get better. That team can help us get better.”
Mitchell finished with 21 points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist, followed by Natalie Barton with 17 points, six rebounds, two steals and seven assists, Lilly with 17 points, six rebounds, a steal and six assists, Jordyn McRae with seven points, 12 rebounds and an assist, Lily Stanford with five points, three rebounds and a pair of assists and Kaden Fair with five points, three rebounds, a steal and two assists.
Lilly Smith and Lizzie Causey each had 10 points to lead Trinity.
Trinity (7-3) will remain home and play its 4A Area 5 opener against LAMP on Friday. The Trojans (9-1) will return home and play host to Catholic on Saturday at 1 p.m. That game was originally scheduled for Catholic but was moved to St. James because of a scheduling conflict.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Pike Road 72, Carroll 67 (OT)
PIKE ROAD -- The Patriots rallied from a 26-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, then outscored the Eagles 13-8 in overtime to pull off the biggest comeback in school history on Tuesday night in the Pike Road gym.
KJ Sturgeon, scoreless through the first three quarters, scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and added a pair of free throws in overtime to finish with 17 points to lead the rally.
Jamal Canty scored 16 points in regulation and added five points in overtime to lead the Patriots with 21 points. Braylen Barker added 16 for Pike Road.
The Patriots hit 17 of 26 free throws in the game, including 7 of 8 in the overtime period.
Pike Road (8-2) will remain home to play Cullman on Thursday.
Montgomery Academy 88, Dallas County 48
Montgomery Academy used a balanced attack and pressure defense to win its Area 5 opener with Dallas County in an 88-48 win over Dallas County at Joe Mooty Court on Tuesday.
Jarrett Friendly led MA with 21 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks, followed by Braden Gordon with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists. JayJay Jackson added 13 points, three steals and two assists, Will Renfroe had seven points, seven rebounds and three steals and John Harris Taylor had eight points and two rebounds.
Montgomery Academy (5-2, 1-0 in area play) will remain home and face Catholic on Thursday.
Alabama Christian 63, Autauga Academy 59
Christian Snipes and Ethan Capps combined for 47 points as the Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak with a 63-59 win over the Generals in the Alabama Christian gym on Tuesday night.
Snipes had 25 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Capps had 22 points and three rebounds. Levi Summers added nine points and 13 rebounds.
ACA (3-5) travels to Autauga Academy on Friday.
Prattville Christian 51, West Blocton 27
PRATTVILLE -- Carter Fiacco led the Panthers with 23 points, seven steals and five rebounds as PCA won its first area game on Tuesday in the PCA gym.
Cody Chapman added six points and four steals, while Wade Mora had six points and four rebounds. Justin Chapman added five points, four rebounds and four steals, Ethan Kiefer had six points and Ethan Girlie had three points.
PCA (4-7, 1-1 in area play) will play host to Brew Tech on Friday.
In the junior varsity game, PCA remained winless in a 37-31 loss to West Blocton despite 17 points from seventh grader Tanner Cantrell. Ethan Kinne added five points and seven rebounds, Spencer Wilson had four points. Carter Montgomery grabbed six rebounds and Jayvion McMillion grabbed four rebounds for PCA (0-8).
Evangel Christian 55, Cornerstone Christian 22
D'John Wright scored 11 points and had three steals to lead Evangel to the win against Cornerstone on Monday night.
Elias Bradford, Sam Thrasher and Damon Petty each added eight points while Nathaniel Doss chipped in six points and Marquis Wood Lucas had five points and eight rebounds.
The Lions (2-0) will travel to Macon East on Tuesday.
Hooper Academy 47, Lowndes Academy 34
LOWNDESBORO -- The Colts pulled away from the Rebels with a strong second quarter performance and defeated Lowndes 47-34 on Monday in the Lowndes Academy gym.
Kingston White led the Colts with 17 points, followed by Bradee Colvett with eight points and Tre Davenport and Jeremy Griggs with seven points each.
Jeremy Hardy led the Rebels with 10 points.
Hooper Academy (5-2) returned home to play host to Crenshaw Christian on Tuesday and Macon East Academy on Thursday.
Jemison 55, Billingsley 43
BILLINGSLEY -- Kyle Boice had 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals in Billingsley’s 55-43 loss to Jemison on Monday.
Kalvin Thomas had seven points, five rebounds and two steals for the Bears, while Dequavion Ray had 10 points and five rebounds and Jake Rawlinson had six points and five rebounds.
Billingsley plays host to Francis Marion in an area game on Tuesday, then travels to Breakthrough Charter for another area game on Thursday.
Autauga Academy 65, Billingsley 46
BILLINGSLEY -- Autauga Academy outscored the Bears 16-5 in the second quarter and 23-10 in the third to pull away from the Bears 65-46 on Friday night in the Billingsley gym.
Kyle Boice led the Bears with 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, followed by Jake Rawlinson with nine points and seven rebounds.
The Bears remain home to play Jemison on Monday and Francis Marion on Tuesday.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Montgomery Academy 62, Dallas County 28
Bailey Davis led a balanced attack with 16 points, including 12 in the second quarter, as the Eagles defeated Dallas County in the Area 5 opener for MA.
The game was tied 14-14 after a sloppy first quarter before Davis and the Eagles went on a 28-6 run in the second quarter to take control of the game. The Eagles played without starters Kaci Armistead and Bennet Britt, but settled in after the first quarter.
Davis also had three rebounds, three steals and two assists, while E.G. Hines and Garland Thomas had 13 points each, with Hines totaling seven rebounds, three steals and two assists, while Thomas added four rebounds (three of which were offensive), three steals and two assists of her own.
Freshman Emilyn Trott got her first varsity start and had nine points, two assists, a rebound and a steal.
Montgomery Academy (3-4) will remain home to play Catholic on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Hooper Academy 27, Crenshaw Christian 14
HOPE HULL -- The Colts jumped out to a quick nine-point lead in the first quarter and cruised to a 27-14 victory over the Cougars at Darrell Self Gym on Tuesday night.
Marilyn Fleming and Henlee Garvin each had seven points to lead Hooper. Katie Robinson added six.
Annabella Trotter and Libby Tompkins each had three points to lead Crenshaw.
Hooper (4-4) remains home to play Macon East on Thursday and Escambia Academy on Friday.
Alabama Christian 66, Autauga Academy 10
Adalyn Newkirk and Addison Smith combined for 18 points in the first quarter as the Eagles raced out to a 28-0 lead on the way to a 66-10 victory over the Generals on Tuesday in the ACA gym.
Newkirk finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, followed by Smith with 11 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists and Campbell Hammett with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Chandler Henry had seven points to lead Autauga Academy (0-5).
ACA (3-4) travels to Autauga Academy on Friday.
Prattville Christian 43, West Blocton 8
PRATTVILLE -- Kayleigh Arthur hit six 3-pointers to finish with 18 points and five steals in keeping the Panthers unbeaten in area play with a 43-8 win over West Blocton on Tuesday in the PCA gym.
Laney Little added 14 points and four rebounds, followed by Baylee Rogers with five points and four steals, Reagan Houston with three points, seven rebounds and four assists and Avery Mann with three points and four assists.
PCA (4-7, 2-0 in area play) will play host to Brew Tech on Friday.
Lowndes Academy 49, Hooper Academy 31 (Monday)
LOWNDESBORO -- The Lowndes Academy girls outscored Hooper 20-6 in the third quarter on the way to a 49-31 win over the Colts in the Lowndes Academy gym on Monday.
Abby Lovell led a balanced attack with 13 points, followed by Kinlee Dismukes and Camryn Hess with 10 points each. Catie Wallace Self scored all nine of her points in the third quarter.
Jenna Conway led Hooper with six points, followed by Katie Robinson and Jade Taylor with five points each.
WRESTLING
PCA wins dual meet with Beulah
BEULAH -- The Prattville Christian wrestling team defeated the Bobcats 42-40 in a dual meet in the Beulah gym on Tuesday.
Winning matches for the Panthers were Ryan Lueck, Brysen Pugh, Carter Copeland, Brooks Carothers, Bryson Bowman and Orion Garrett.
The PCA varsity wrestling team will travel to Childersburg on Thursday night to take part in a quad match with Childersburg, Oak Grove and Weaver.