BY TIME GAYLE
SPECIAL TO THE EAN
Top Photo: PCA’s P.J. Evans gets layup by Chapman Pouncey
There were times during Prattville Christian Academy’s six-game losing streak when head coach Jason Roberson questioned his team’s mental toughness.
He wondered whether he was properly coaching his youthful team, particularly when the Panthers didn’t execute the offense to his satisfaction in a low-scoring loss last week at Catholic or finish the game after losing a 10-point lead in an overtime loss to Trinity at home last week.
Shooting certainly cures a lot of problems.
The Panthers got 3 pointers from five different players to jump on Trinity early, then pull away late for an 82-55 win over the Wildcats in a 3A Area 6 match at Captain Jack Court on Tuesday night.
“We had a double-digit lead (last week) in the third quarter, but we’re so young and trying to learn how to play with a lead,” Roberson said. “We’re trying to learn how to make simple, correct basketball plays. Tonight, we did more of that. They still made a run on us, cut it to seven going into the fourth quarter, and I was thinking, ‘Here we go again.’”
The Wildcats actually pulled within six a minute into the fourth quarter when Carson Roberson responded with two of his seven 3 pointers, extending the lead back to 12 points and igniting another barrage of PCA shots that continued until the final horn.
“He has been huge for us this year,” Roberson said of his son. “In fact, tonight he made his 100th 3 pointer. He has been super consistent with his shot. He’s made big shots all year. I know that may sound funny, we’re 8-15, but he’s made a lot of big shots for us so we don’t expect anything less. When he’s open, we expect it to go in.”
Conner Williams hit five 3 pointers as well, scoring 11 points in the first quarter to take a 25-13 lead over a shell-shocked Trinity squad.
“They just came out of the gate smoking hot,” Trinity coach Matt Arrighi said. “Even though late in the third quarter, up there (last week), they were up 10 and this game we cut it to seven, this game just had a different feel to it. Our guys, I didn’t feel good energy from them. Even when we made a good run at the end of the third quarter, we came over to the bench and it was dead.
“But credit to PCA. They were just hitting shots everywhere. We didn’t do a good job of guarding the ball and our help was a little off, we had the wrong guys helping, but credit to PCA because good teams expose you when you make mistakes. I don’t know how many 3s they hit, but it seemed like a million.”
Five different players hit 17 3 pointers, led by Williams with 25 points and eight rebounds, Carson Roberson with 24 points, Cade Segars with 13 points and nine assists and PJ Evans with nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Cal Bennett led Trinity (12-7) with 16 points, followed by David Michael Lieux with nine. The Wildcats travel to Montgomery Academy on Friday.
PCA remains in last place in the area, tied with Trinity at 1-3, but the Panthers look like a different team heading into Friday’s area game with Catholic.
“It’s big for us, just to get some confidence,” Roberson said. “We’ve had some games where we’ve had a lead and not been able to finish. For us, it’s not about what seed we get in the area tournament, it just has everything to do with can we be confident in who we are and what we’re trying to do.”
