ACA took two of three on the week to win their first games of the year. Veteran coach Jim Sanderson led the squad to its first triumphs of the year. After losing to Notasulga the Eagles rebounded with wins over Thorsby and Thomasville.
11-29-22 Notasulga
Alabama Christian began the week on Tuesday and fell to Notasulga in a hotly contested affair, 47-48. Neither team led by more than seven points on the night. Darius Gardner and AC Walters were both available to play and added depth to the ACA rotation. Tyree Saadiq scored the games first points two minutes into the first period. The Blue Devils scored at the buzzer on a reverse layup to lead 12-9 after one. Notasulga outscored ACA 8-4 over the first four minutes of the second quarter to gain their biggest lead of the night, 20-13. The Eagles closed the half on a 10-3 run to tie the game at intermission, 23-23. Four different players scored the last ten points as Christian Snipes and Devin Mosely both had buckets and Darius Gardner and Mac Moorer both hit triples, the last of which tied the game with 36.3 seconds remaining.
Mac Moorer fires from deep.
Gardner scored the first four points of the second half for Alabama Christian. Devin Moseley closed the quarter with two free throws for a 33-32 lead with 1:38 left. The score remained the same for the rest of the period. The offense featured Christian Snipes in the final quarter as he scored ten of the team’s fourteen points. Trailing by two points, Snipes was fouled with 32.8 seconds left in the game. The freshman made the first but missed the second attempt. AC Walters grabbed the rebound and scored his only two points of the game to give the Eagles a 47-46 lead. The defense held and retained possession with 14.9 seconds left in the game. However, the inbound man did not hold his spot as he attempted to pass the ball in and was called for traveling and a crucial turnover. Notasulga scored quickly on the inbounds play and regained the lead, 48-47. After an Eagle timeout and two delays trying to figure out how much time should be on the clock, the home team inbounded with nine seconds remaining. Alabama Christian drew a foul and had a chance for the win with 1.7 seconds left, but missed both free throws. The Blue Devils collected the rebound and the game was over. Free throws were the key to the outcome as Notasulga hit all five of theirs in the fourth and ACA connected on just two of eight attempts.
Tyree Saadiq drives to the basket.
Christian Snipes led the team with 18 points and added eight rebounds and two blocks. Mac Moorer finished with eight points and two assists while Darius Gardner had seven points and three rebounds. Tyree Saadiq led the team with eleven rebounds and five assists.
12-1-22 Thorsby
ACA secured their first win of the season and gave Jim Sanderson his first as coach of the Eagles. Alabama Christian defeated Thorsby 61-52 in a contest filled with strange goings on. The Rebels raced to a 7-2 lead, but ACA answered and never trailed again as Darius Gardner hit two freebies for a 9-7 lead with 2:29 left in the first. The margin stretched to seven points by the end of the quarter as Mac Moorer and Sam Davidson hit treys on consecutive possessions for a 16-9 advantage. Thorsby scored the first five points of the second and the score stayed close through the rest of the half. Christian Snipes closed the half with a putback bucket to give the Eagles a 26-21 lead the break.
Coach Jim Sanderson gives instructions to his team.
Darius Gardner scored nine of the team’s first eleven points in the second half to give Alabama Christian their biggest lead of the night at 37-27. At this point in the period, the strange happenings began. As Thorsby hit three 3-pointers and ACA scored one bucket, the score should have been 39-38 in favor of the home team, but the scoreboard read 39-39. As the scorer’s table was trying to figure that out, the Eagles went to the foul line and made the first of two free throws. The only problem was the refs didn’t see it because of the discussion about the score and the made shot was disallowed. The referee running the clock struggled all night as he seemed to be confused by the technological wizardry of the scoreboard control. The period ended with ACA holding a slim one-point lead, 40-39. The Rebels tied the score one last time at 43-43 before the Eagles ran off nine straight points and forced a timeout from the visitors with 3:20 left. Four different players scored in the run, highlighted by a Cole Barsukoff three. Unlike the game against Notasulga, the Eagles hit their free throws down the stretch, connecting on seven of ten over the final seventy-two seconds. The second unusual item was the ejection of a Thorsby player with just 16.5 seconds left as he said something the lead official didn’t like. No technicals or free throws were assessed, just sent the player off the floor. When the final horn sounded, the home team enjoyed its first victory of the year.
Darius Gardner scores two of his team-high 25 points.
Darius Gardner led the offense with 25 points, scoring 21 in the second half and adding eight rebounds. Christian Snipes had 18 points and seven boards while Mac Moorer finished with 10 points and two assists. Tyree Saadiq led the team with four assists.
12-3-22 at Thomasville
Like the Lady Eagles, the boy’s team handled the opening quarter on the road very well as they led 14-4 after eight minutes. Conner Mark and Darius Gardner both connected twice from long distance to spark the offense. Christian Snipes picked up his third foul with 3:28 left in the half with a 20-11 lead. The rest of the team held their own to close the period as Sam Davidson and Gardner both scored in the final minute for a 24-16 cushion at the break.
Sam Davidson handles the defensive pressure.
Alabama Christian had a strong third quarter as they outscored the Tigers 13-8. Christian Snipes scored seven in the period to lead the team as Darius Gardner, Mac Moorer and Conner Mark each scored for the Eagles. Snipes scored the first points of the final quarter for a 39-24 lead, the biggest of the night. With 6:58 left in the game, Snipes fouled out with the lead still at fifteen points. Without the freshman center on the floor, the Thomasville offense caught fire. The Tigers outscored ACA 23-5 over the next five minutes to take a 47-44 lead. At one stretch, the opponent connected on 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions. Down three, AC Walters hit one of two freebies to cut the lead to 45-47. After a defensive stop, Tyree Saadiq found Conner Mark behind the arc and the sophomore drained it for a 48-47 lead with 48 seconds left. The defense allowed only one shot and stole the ball twice from the home team to hold on for a dramatic one-point victory.
Conner Mark eyes his man on defense.
Christian Snipes led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds. Darius Gardner had 14 and eight boards while Conner Mark finished with 11 points and three rebounds. Although Tyree Saadiq did not score he contributed mightily with eight assists and six rebounds.
ACA will visit Tallassee and LAMP next week and look to continue their win streak.