Alabama Christian played the second of four consecutive area games Friday night as they visited Catholic. This was ACA’s first trip to the new gymnasium on the Catholic campus.
The girls played another tough, physical game against the Lady Knights and came up just short, 38-40. The two teams combined for 43 fouls and 56 free throw attempts. Unfortunately, neither team was able to take advantage as the two squads combined for 37 free throw misses. The Lady Eagles finished the first half on a 6-0 run, capped off by a Michaelyn Manning three pointer, and took a 20-13 lead into the locker room. ACA (8-11) lost the lead quickly to open the third quarter and the score remained close for the remainder of the game. Despite only making 2 of 10 free throws in the final 1:30 of the contest, Catholic was able to hold off ACA and come away with the two point victory. Michaelyn Manning led the offense with 17 points and three rebounds. Mary Reagan Hilyer scored eight points with three assists.
In the boys game, offense was the name of the game in a high scoring affair. The Knights defeated the Eagles (6-13), 107-75 in a game with a great number of impressive individual plays. Catholic was led by another athlete who transferred in for his senior season and built a 24 point lead at the half and cruised to the easy victory. Four Eagles scored in double figures led by Avery Stuart with 19 points and Braden Alford with 18 points. Jalen Clark added 14 points and Caden Perry tallied 12 points.