THURSDAY PREPS: MA volleyball cruises to Area tourney title; Russell County football tops Julian; Catholic flag wins
Tournament MVP Bennett Britt with the kill during the Class A Private Area 4 tourney at Montgomery Academy on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
They were a heavy favorite entering the Class A Private Area 4 Tournament, but the Montgomery Academy volleyball team didn’t have that mindset entering Thursday’s slate of games at Joe Mooty Court.
“Yes, we came in ranked as the number one (seed), but that means nothing,” first-year Montgomery Academy coach Jada Coleman said. “Practice means nothing if we don’t transition that over to the game. That came from one of our players, Caroline Wood, and we worked so hard at practice and talked intentionally about the teams we would be playing today. The most important thing was making sure we stuck to our game plan and we played how we know how to play.”
Montgomery Academy swept through the tournament, defeating St. James in the semifinals and Prattville Christian 25-13, 25-18 and 25-10 in the finals.
“I feel like we’re peaking at the right time,” Coleman said. “Our goal is not to lose a set. We want to push ourselves every single time and want to be worried about who’s on our side of the court and handling what we can handle. One thing that we’ve been focused on is controlling the controllables. When we do that, we play great Montgomery Academy volleyball.”
Both teams advanced to the South Super Regional next week at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl. Montgomery Academy will play Holy Spirit on Wednesday at 11 a.m., needing one win to advance to the state tournament. Prattville Christian (17-24) will face Tuscaloosa Academy on Wednesday at 11 a.m., needing one win to advance to the state tournament.
It took a four-set victory over Trinity for PCA to earn a postseason playoff berth by advancing to the area tournament finals.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” PCA coach Kaylon Cantrell said. “We’ve been working really hard to prepare for that one. We knew that was the one that was going to matter. I feel like the girls showed up when it mattered. We’ve had some highs and lows this season, for sure, but I feel like today they did a good job understanding the assignment and they came in here with a purpose.
“We had some really good moments (in the championship match), but we also understand they’ve got some really good players that have been playing together for a really long time and this year, for us, that’s not what we have. For us to be able to get here, I’m really proud of that.”
Montgomery Academy senior Bennett Britt was selected as the most valuable player in the tournament after recording 18 kills, a block and 10 digs in the championship match. She had 32 kills in the three-set win over St. James and the three-set win over Prattville Christian combined.
“We knew we had to take care of business because it’s our last game on this court,” Britt said. “All of us have played together for so long. We started in the fourth grade at CCJ fall league, this whole group of girls, so it’s really fun and special to know that it’s not our last game (of the season) and we get to keep playing together and still have practice.”
Fellow senior Rehmat Sidhu, in her second year as the starting setter, recorded her 2,000th career assist in the tournament, getting a block, a dig and 39 assists. She was named to the all-tournament team.
“She’s just a great setter,” Coleman said. “One thing that stands out about Rehmat is she is so open to feedback. Every single ball, she’s asking, ‘What can I do better?’ Even if it’s a perfect set. She’s a setter that is willing to adjust for her hitters and that’s what makes her such a well-rounded setter.”
Senior Morgan Springer, a member of the all-tournament team, had 10 kills, two blocks, four aces and two digs. She earned her 200th ace in the tournament.
Wood had two blocks to earn her 100th career block, along with 11 kills and a dig.
Addison Kitchens had six kills, two blocks and two digs, Emilyn Trott had three kills, a block and a dig, E.G. Hines had two kills, an ace and 12 digs, Caroline Sullivan had two kills and a dig, Lizzie Campbell had an ace and 15 digs, Ella Gaines Thomas had two aces and two digs and Kathleen Johnston had 12 digs.
For Prattville Christian, Maren Diefenderfer, who had 20 kills, an assist, four aces and 15 digs, was named to the all-tournament team along with Anniston Robison, who had 33 assists, two kills, three aces and 13 digs.
In addition, Maddie Brownlee had six assists, an ace and eight digs, Copeland Miller had three kills and seven digs, Ella Claire Caudle had a dig, Christiana Franklin had five kills and three blocks, Haven Harrell had four assists, an ace and 10 digs, Jordyn Harris had nine assists, four kills, an ace and 10 digs, Olivia Rossi had 13 kills, two aces, two blocks and 11 digs and Elle Maddox had seven kills, six blocks and an assist.
Trinity’s Lilly Smith was named to the all-tournament team as well.
FOOTBALL
Russell County 20, P. Julian 8
Chris Lewis scored two touchdowns to lead Russell County to the Class 5A, Region 2 win over Percy Julian at Cramton Bowl on Thursday.
The Warriors scored on their opening drive with Lewis scoring his first points on a 7-yard run. His second touchdown came in the second quarter on a 5-yard scamper with less than a minute gone in the quarter.
Lavasco Williams added the third touchdown for Russell County on a 1-yard plunge with 2:10 left in the third period.
Julian got its only points in the final minutes of the game with Jordan Winston hitting Ernest Shuford on a 5-yard pass. Winston added the two-point conversion for the final points.
Williams led the Warriors with 95 yards on nine carries while Lewis rushed for 74 yards on 12 carries.
Winston passed for 128 yards and a score on 10 of 16 attempts.
Julian (2-6, 1-5 5A Region 2) plays again Saturday against Benjamin Russell at Cramton Bowl. Russell County (6-2, 4-2) returns home to face Park Crossing on Friday.
FLAG FOOTBALL
Catholic 31, Enterprise 0
ENTERPRISE -- Catholic won its 13th consecutive game, pitching its fifth shutout in the last seven games with a 31-0 win over the Wildcats on Thursday.
Hayden Fitts threw a pair of touchdown passes and rushed 12 times for 114 yards and another touchdown as the Knights posted their second shutout of the week after beating St. Michael 33-0 on Tuesday.
Fitts completed 8 of 20 passes for 129 yards, while running back Avery Sadler completed 4 of 4 passes for 26 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Haley Ishman had four receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown, Maggie McNeely had four catches for 13 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Frances Ann Rogers added a 5-yard touchdown catch.
Defensively, Rogers had four flag pulls and an interception, Fitts had four stops and Sadler had two stops and a pair of interceptions.
Catholic (13-1) will travel to Hoover next Thursday, return home for an Oct. 27 game with Trinity, then close out the regular season with an Oct. 29 game at Northside.