TCA boys hold off Jackson Christian
Isaac Elliott is used to being one of the first reserves off the bench for Trinity Christian Academy, but his routine changed a little bit Saturday night.
With forward Thomas Harvey unavailable to play in the District 15-A semifinal against Jackson Christian due to illness, the junior Elliott started in his place.
Elliott took advantage of his opportunity, scoring 18 of his 21 total points in the first half of a 68-65 win over visiting Jackson Christian that secured a home game in the region quarterfinals for the Lions.
“Not having Thomas Harvey kind of scared us at first, but we pulled through,” Elliott said. “Total team effort. I’ve got to give credit to all my guys, especially the younger guys that came in and helped us during that stretch [of the] third and fourth quarter.”
That stretch was when Jackson Christian pushed TCA the hardest, and the Eagles likely would have come away with a win if it weren’t for Elliott’s first-half shooting display.
He hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter, showing confidence by pulling up for one off the dribble early in the period and then drilling two more off the pass a few minutes later.
“He’s very capable of doing that. He’s one of our best pure shooters,” TCA coach Ken Northcut said. “We talked before the game that we needed him to step up and play a big role for us tonight, whether that was playing good defense, rebounding, taking care of the ball. Just be a team player for us. He rose to the occasion.”
Trinity opened the game with a 14-2 lead and led 40-27 at halftime, but the visiting Eagles cut the deficit to 56-46 when Jeremy Stewart banked a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer.
Josh Cole hit a 3, Stewart got a putback and Clay Lewis made a layup off a turnover to open the fourth and TCA’s lead was 56-53.
TCA led 64-62 with 1:17 to go after Riley Ragan made one of two free throws. Justin Sidwell stole the ball from Jackson Christian on its next possession and found Eli Parker for a layup. Right after that, Parker got a steal.
Sergio Pagoaga gave TCA a 68-62 lead with a putback, and Cole hit a 3 with seven seconds left. Sidwell missed a free throw, but Jackson Christian’s heave just near halfcourt was no good.
TCA also had to hold off Jackson Christian’s late push without guard Jake Morford, who dealt with recurring pain in his feet.
“I feel like our senior leadership really helped us through, like Eli and Sergio kind of calming us down, because we’ve never been in this situation before,” Elliott said. “So them leading us through that really helped us.”
TCA will play Middleton in a district title game Tuesday after Jackson Christian plays Madison in a consolation. All four will advance to the region tournament, but TCA and Middleton won’t have to travel in the first round.
Pagoaga scored 17 points and Parker 13 for Trinity. Stewart led Jackson Christian with 18 points, while Garrett Hopkins scored 15, Ragan had 14 and Cole had nine.
Middleton 59, Madison 44
Marquese Parram scored 20 points to help fifth seed Madison seriously challenge top seed Middleton for much of the evening, but the deeper Tigers pulled away for a fairly comfortable victory.
The Mustangs led most of the first quarter, and an Isaac Neely jumper gave Madison a 14-13 lead late in the first, but Tylandrius Parks answered with his own jumper and Middleton led the rest of the game.
A 7-0 run to close the half propelled the Tigers to a 34-25 advantage, and Madison’s best threat had passed.
Montrez Jones scored 14 and Parks 13 for Middleton, which advanced to Tuesday’s district championship game.
Craig Thomas, 425-9634