money Evangel Christian boys and girls basketball teams fall in AISA state championship game
Evangel Christian has maybe the biggest mismatch in AISA girls basketball in 6-foot-4 Zaria Johnson, yet the Lions rarely game-plan around her.
Coach Haley Rosa knows that with the attention Johnson draws from other teams, she can't be her team's only weapon. That's why Rosa draws up plays for everybody — not just her star center — in case she's ever not on the court.
That was the scenario Evangel faced in Saturday's AISA Class A championship game against Abbeville Christian. The Generals played aggressively and attacked Johnson from the start despite not having a player within four inches of her height, looking to get her in foul trouble.
It worked, as Johnson was limited to less than half the game and Abbeville Christian won, 41-30, for its second straight title.
START WITH Z: Evangel Christian's Zaria Johnson a dominant force
Johnson picked up two early fouls and sat out most of the first half as Abbeville Christian took a 21-12 lead. In the third quarter, her presence flipped the game as she recorded four points, two rebounds, a steal and a block in less than two minutes. Just two minutes later, though, she committed two more fouls and went back to the bench.
In the fourth quarter, Johnson tried to stay out of trouble by hanging back in some rebounding situations. But she fouled out with two minutes to play. Evangel came no closer than seven points after the break.
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Karley Blankenship scored nine points and Destiny Betton added six for the Lions (12-9), while Betton made several huge defensive plays.
"Destiny stepped up and played her game," Rosa said. "We just didn't execute well down the stretch. ... At the end of the day, missing free throws and layups, you can't recover from that."
The Generals (15-9) were led by Caroline Armstrong and Anna Grace Blalock, who scored 19 and 15 points, respectively.
Heritage Christian defeats Evangel in title game again
Different season, same result.
Heritage Christian came out hot and didn’t let Evangel Christian get back into the game, winning the AISA Class A boys basketball state championship game 50-31 Saturday at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex.
The Eagles (24-5) won their second straight title. Their first was a 38-30 win over the Lions last season.
"They hit some shots, and we just couldn't find an opportunity to get some good looks," said Evangel coach Kerwin Washington. "The better team won."
Heritage Christian used a barrage of 3-pointers to take a lead that stretched to as many as 20 points in the first half.
Kennedy Holland didn’t let Evangel (13-9) go without a fight. In his final game, the senior sparked a third-quarter run with nine points to pull the Lions within 31-20. The Eagles were simply too much.
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Tobias Stoutermire, a 6-5 forward, imposed his will down low, stuffing shots and helping to turn the tide with an and-one layup late in the third quarter to put the Eagles up 35-22. They led by at least 13 points the rest of the game.
Holland led Evangel with 12 points, with Nii Addy adding another eight. Stoutermire scored a game-high 22 points, while Michael Hart had 14.
Saturday was Evangel's sixth straight appearance in an AISA title game. The Eagles are now 3-3 in those games, with victories coming in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com, by phone at (334) 201-9117 and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Evangel boys, girls basketball fall in AISA state championship games
