Alabama Christian has a busy end to Finals week as they hosted Reeltown on Thursday night and will travel to Mobile to play on Friday and Saturday. ACA split the two games on Thursday as the boys won 48-40 and the girls lost 46-52.
Boys
The boys played uninspired offensively in the first half, but the defense kept them in it as Reeltown also struggled to score points. ACA’s (5-6) defense held the Rebels to just nine made baskets in the half in a low scoring first half. A Levi Summers score gave the home team its first lead of the night, 15-14, with five minutes left in the second period. After a Reeltown turnover, Christian Snipes scored to make it a three-point lead, the biggest of the first half. The Rebels answered and closed out the half on a 7-1 run to take a 21-18 lead at the break.
Reeltown scored to open the second half for their biggest lead of the game, 23-18. ACA chipped away at the slim lead throughout the quarter. Noah Shack hit one of two free throws with 2:37 left in the third to give the Eagles the lead for good, 26-25. On the next play Levi Summers stole the ball and found Mason Henry for a 3-pointer for what seemed like a big lead in this game, 29-25. The third ended with ACA leading 30-27. AJ Shannon started the fourth quarter with a three to extend the lead to six points. Although ACA led throughout the fourth period, Reeltown never went away. The Rebels cut the lead to one with a little less than five minutes left in the game. ACA answered with a 6-0 run to lead 41-34 with 3:21 left. Once again, the Rebels fought their way back and cut the lead to 42-40 with 2:30 left in the game. ACA’s defense would not allow another point as Reeltown missed its last six shots down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Eagles pulled away as Shannon hit a runner in the lane for a 44-40 lead followed by Henry’s acrobatic put back basket for a 46-40 lead. Levi Summers closed out the scoring as ACA prevailed 48-40.
Levi Summers led the offense with 13 points and also grabbed a team high nine rebounds. Mason Henry finished with nine points, seven rebounds, and four steals while Noah Shack scored seven points, all in the second half.
Girls
Sometimes in sports you run across a player who is just physically bigger than everyone else and can’t be stopped. ACA (5-5) lived that reality on Thursday as Reeltown had a mountain of a post player and a couple of other girls who were also bigger than any Eagle. The coaching staff tried multiple defenses to stop her, but some of the other players hit open shots in response to doubling the post. Overall, the Eagle effort was good and the team played hard all night. Despite trailing most of the second half, ACA cut the lead to two points with less than a minute to go, but Reeltown made their shots to win it, 52-46.
Campbell Hammett scored 16 points to lead the offense and eight rebounds. Adalyn Newkirk scored 13 points with seven rebounds and Per Laine Holley added six points with four rebounds. Sam Burgess led the team with nine rebounds.