BY TIM GAYLE
SPORTS – SPECIAL TO EAN
Top Photo: PCA’s Cade Segars runs by Catholic’s LJ Green (2), Matthew Reardon
Catholic jumped out to a huge early lead over Prattville Christian and the top-seeded Knights won 63-51 in the opening round of the 3A Area 6 tournament at Catholic on Wednesday, but it was never a comfortable feeling for head coach Mike Curry.
“You’ve got to give credit to (PCA),” Curry said. “They didn’t lay down. They weren’t going anywhere. Every time we got up 15 or 20, they’d make a run and cut it back to 10. Then we’d make a run and they’d cut it back. We relaxed too much. But I told the guys, ‘They’re not going anywhere’ and they’ve always got a puncher’s chance because they shoot the 3 ball. I don’t know if they shot it great tonight, but they had some shots that kept it close and kept us on our toes.”
Catholic (13-9) did its job in advancing to the area tournament finals against Montgomery Academy on Friday at 6 p.m. The winner of the Catholic-Montgomery Academy game will remain home and play Reeltown in the sub-regional round on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The loser will travel to play Dadeville.
And for a team that lost much of its star power from last year’s 3A runner-up squad but still entertains hopes of returning to the state tournament to finish what it started, Catholic can complete its area slate with an 8-0 record with a win over the Eagles on Friday.
“At this point in the year, we take them any way we can get them,” Curry said. “I’m proud of my guys and proud of the effort. I thought that second bunch with (Jayden) Phifer and (Miles) Hannah, their defensive effort really gave us a boost going into halftime. It was really their defense that did it. They were on top of everything and ran them off the (3-point) line. They set the tone. It was a total team effort. Everybody that touched the floor contributed.
“Every game is important, but home court advantage (is huge). It was important that we had it tonight. If we had been somewhere else, it might have been a different outcome with them shooting those 3s. Friday night is very important. MA has really been playing well down the stretch.”
Catholic’s defensive intensity was a force in the early moments of the game and the Knights raced out to a 20-5 lead before settling into a routine that alternated between stretches of shots by the Panthers, countered by the Knights converting turnovers into layups to extend the lead.
“Our young guys, I guess, were a little nervous,” PCA coach Jason Roberson said. “We have struggled to execute all year long. We got a little better toward the end of the season but you are who you are. Hopefully, our young guys coming back will execute from the very beginning, from the first day of practice in the summer and we’ll be a team that can do what we’re supposed to do next year.
“But we’re not athletic enough, big enough, good enough to not play a lot harder than the other team and a lot smarter than the other team and we didn’t do either one of those tonight.”
LJ Green led Catholic with 20 points, scoring 11 of those in the final period, along with six assists, six rebounds and 10 steals. Phifer and Matthew Reardon added 13 points each.
Cade Segars led PCA (11-19) with 19 points and nine rebounds, followed by Carson Roberson with 17 points and four assists. Roberson ended the season with 126 made 3 pointers, tied for 11th in Alabama High School Athletic Association history.
The Panthers, which started three freshmen on Wednesday, will return all five starters next season and will lose just three seniors.
