The Lady Eagles experienced two milestone victories during the week as Spenser Cantrell coached her first win on Tuesday against Notasulga and the girl’s program notched its 500th win with a convincing performance over Thorsby. ACA won two of three during the week as they dropped a game at Thomasville on Saturday.
11-29-22 Notasulga
To see the final score of the contest against Notasulga, one would never guess ACA got off to a slow start. However, with 4:42 left in the first, the teams were tied, 4-4. Coach Cantrell called a timeout and whatever she said worked. The Eagles finished the quarter on a 15-0 run to stretch the lead to 19-4. The defense forced nine turnovers and allowed only four shots for the Lady Devils over the second half of the period. Izzy Warrick scored seven points followed by Rachel Rine and Jaide Newkirk with four points apiece as they pulled away from the visitors. Alabama Christian hit their first five free throws in the second period to help extend the lead. Warrick and Campbell Hammett each scored four points in the quarter to lead the team. ACA had a 30-7 cushion heading into the locker room.
Jaide Newkirk goes up for a rebound.
In the third quarter, the defensive pressure continued and the offense caught fire as they scored the first fifteen points of the period and outscored Notasulga 25-2 overall. Katelyn Sutton terrorized the Blue Devil offense with five of her team-high nine steals in the third. Notasulga managed just two made free throws for their only points in the period. Even in the half court, the Devils’ offense had trouble functioning as the Eagles called off any kind of pressure. ACA outscored the visitors 13-2 in the quarter for a final tally of 68-11.
Izzy Warrick heads up the floor.
Jaide Newkirk’s 20 points led the offense with nine rebounds followed by Rachel Rine with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals. Izzy Warrick produced a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds with five steals. Campbell Hammett tallied ten points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds. Katelyn Sutton tied Hammett with a team-high four assists and had nine steals.
12-1-22 Thorsby
A slow start was not a problem Thursday against Thorsby. The Lady Eagles scored the first nine points of the game as four different players made baskets. The Rebels’ only points came after two Eagle defenders collided with each other, trying for a steal. The mishap led to an easy layup for the visitors. Alabama Christian scored the last fifteen points of the period for a 24-2 cushion after the opening quarter. The stifling Eagle defense forced ten turnovers and allowed only eight shots for Thorsby. ACA scored three quick buckets to open the second for a 30-2 advantage and led 34-7 at the break.
Coach Cantrell gives directions to her players.
The defense did not allow a field goal in the third quarter as ACA outscored Thorsby 14-1 in the period for a 48-8 margin after three. Due to the thirty-plus point lead, the clock ran continuously in the final period. At one point, the ACA defense deflected four inbounds passes in a row that took more than a minute off the clock. The Rebels were finally able to score from the floor with less than five minutes left in the game, but the outcome had long been decided. Alabama Christian overpowered the visitors, 50-17.
Katelyn Sutton passes to an open teammate.
Jaide Newkirk scored 15 points to lead all scorers with eight rebounds and three blocks. Rachel Rine had 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals while Katelyn Sutton finished with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
12-3-22 at Thomasville
ACA did not let their first road game rattle their nerves as they visited Thomasville. After giving up the game’s first points, the Eagles controlled the remainder of the quarter. Jaide Newkirk and Katelyn Sutton combined to score nine points for a 9-3 lead midway through the first. Campbell Hammett stretched the advantage to 15-5 as she scored after an offensive rebound with 1:50 left. Neither team scored the rest of the way as the lead stayed at ten points headed to the second. Alabama Christian was whistled for six fouls in the quarter and would continue to be plagued by eager stripes the rest of the half. The saying “There is a foul on every play if you’re looking for it” was brought to life by the officials as they called ten fouls in a three-minute span on both teams which brought any flow to the game to a halt. Jaide Newkirk picked up her third with 6:20 left in the half with the team leading 16-9. With Newkirk on the bench, the lead disappeared and the Lady Eagles trailed by two, 21-23 at the half.
The game remained close in the third and ACA took the lead on a Katelyn Sutton three. After the score, Thomasville ended the quarter on a 10-1 lead for their biggest lead of the game, 37-29. The Eagles were still down by eight with six minutes left when they started to chip away at the deficit. Izzy Warrick nailed a three followed by a Rachel Rine bucket to cut the lead to three points. Sutton sank two free throws with 4:17 remaining to make the score 39-40. Warrick gave Alabama Christian the lead with an and-one opportunity at 3:36 in the fourth. Jaide Newkirk rebounded the missed free throw and drew a foul herself to extend the lead to three points, 45-42. The Tigers turned up the pressure as the contest neared its conclusion. With less than a minute left, Thomasville scored on an offensive rebound to cut the lead to two. After an ill-advised shot by ACA, the Tigers were fouled and tied the score. The Eagles turned the ball over and the home team took the lead with seven seconds left. After another turnover, ACA got the ball back one last time with 0.3 seconds left but was unable to score in the 49-51 defeat.
Jaide Newkirk led the team with 15 points and six rebounds. Katelyn Sutton had 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals while Rachel Rine scored ten with six assists and three boards.