Alabama Christian hosted Ellwood Christian from Selma Friday night and both teams posted impressive wins. Both offenses produced their highest point totals of the season and were able to substitute freely in the second half.
In the girls game, it took a little while for the offense to get rolling as the game remained relatively close through the first period. The ACA (2-3) pressure harassed Ellwood early and caused eight turnovers by the visitors in the first. Annabelle Pugh and Jaide Newkirk had four of the team’s six steals in the quarter to help spur a 14-8 advantage. Campbell Hammett opened the second with a steal and score and then found Izzy Warrick for a score for a quick four points in thirty seconds. Ellwood responded and scored consecutive baskets to cut the lead to 18-12 with just over six minutes left in the half. After a timeout, Alabama Christian scored the next seventeen points over three minutes to bust the game open. Jaide Newkirk led the attack with ten points during the run and finished with 18 points in the first half. A Katelyn Sutton bucket late in the period gave ACA a 41-19 headed into the half.
The Lady Eagles scored the first eight points of the second half to build a thirty point cushion. The lead extended to thirty-five by the end of the quarter as the bench logged major minutes. Sam Burgess, who made her varsity debut on Tuesday, scored the first point of her varsity career with a free throw with under a minute left in the third and would add a three pointer in the final period. With a thirty point lead, the fourth quarter moved quickly as the clock ran continuously. Another freshman, Madison Williams scored the first points of her career with a trey to close out the scoring on the night. The final was a resounding 75-31 victory.
Jaide Newkirk led all scorers with 29 points with 11 rebounds and three steals. The performance was Newkirk’s third double-double of the season. Kately Sutton filled the stat sheet with 20 points, five rebounds, five steals, and three assists. Izzy Warrick was the third player to hit double digits with ten points and added five rebounds, five steals, and four assists.
After splitting two nail biters earlier in the week, ACA (3-3) didn’t mind a bit of a breather on Friday night. Like the girls, the boys took a while to click early as they led just 5-4 with three minutes left in the quarter. The Eagles scored the last nine points in the first to take a 14-4 lead into the second quarter. After giving up the first points of the second quarter, ACA ran off eleven consecutive points to extend the lead to 25-7. Jayden Jones and Darius Gardner both scored twice in the stretch to lead the offense. The lead continued to build through the remainder of the half as ACA led 39-15 at the break. Gardner (8) and Tyree Saadiq (7) led the offense through the first two quarters.
The offense got going in the third as the team shot 52.9% (9 for 17) from the field in the quarter. Five of the nine makes were assisted as the ball moved crisply for the Eagles. Tyree Saadiq led the charge with six points in the period on two made threes. The lead ballooned to 43 points with the 61-18 margin at the end of the third. The clock ran in the fourth quarter with the big lead. TJ Merritt and Kaiden Green both scored off the bench in the final eight minutes as the game ended with a 69-24 final score.
Ten different Eagles scored on the night and were led by Tyree Saadiq with 13 points and five assists and Jayden Jones with 10 points. Three players, Darius Gardner, Connor Mark, and Christian Snipes, each scored nine points. For the third straight game Gardner led the team in rebounds with eight and Mark had a team high three steals.
Alabama Christian next plays at home against LAMP on Tuesday, December 5th.