Contributed to the Observer
On Tuesday Jan. 18, the Patriots of Southern Christian faced the Trinity Eagles of Opelika. The Pats came in riding a hot streak and were able to maintain the fire burning long enough to keep the Eagles caged and unable to soar. Southern Christian defeated Trinity 45-33 with the help of a dominate performance from Jagger Scott. Scott scored 15 points and pulled down a whopping 23 rebounds in regulation. Parks Myers also had another stellar performance for the hometown fans, scoring 14 points, stealing seven times, adding seven assists and grabbing seven boards. Jedd Scott also had five steals and four assists, helping to continue the streak into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
Southern Christian then headed to T-town to face the Warriors of Tuscaloosa Homeschool Academy. This was the second time these teams faced each other with SCA falling to the Warriors in a very close conference matchup the first time. The JV boys were up first, with Jayden McKee putting up nine from long range to lead the guys of Southern Christian to victory over the THA Warriors. Jagger Scott continued winning the battle in the paint scoring eight points and bringing down seven rebounds. Cole Johnson also helped the Pats under the rim with seven boards. With 7 seconds left in the game, the Patriots were leading 33-32. Inbounding the ball under the Warrior’s basket, McKee threw a long baseball pass down right side of the court and one of the Warriors comes up with it as the seconds ticked by. Before Tuscaloosa Academy could get it back down court, Jedd Scott took the ball and converted an easy layup to seal the victory, 35-32, and keep the winning streak alive.
“I love watching these guys play,” said Southern Christian head coach Jason Scott. “This group is a very special group. Very exciting to be part of this team. Every time they get on the court they seem to get better. But really by playing better together — playing more unselfishly every time — that’s what I love to see, that’s what the fans love too.”
The hot streak would encounter some cold weather soon after, however, much like the gym in Tuscaloosa where the temperature was 49 degrees at the start of warmups.
The middle school boys of SCA faced up against the Warriors JV squad in the second game in T-Town due to THA not having a middle school team this year. Being quite apropos, playing not far from the long shadow of Bear Bryant, was very much a “size of the fight in the dog …” scenario unfolding for the boys from Opelika. And fight they did, the Patriots battled courageously for 24 minutes, almost matching the Warriors in the second and third quarters of regulation. But the Warriors’ first quarter domination and the Pats being unable to get their offense running well in the final quarter led to the icy cold end of the Patriots hot streak. The final tally would be 53-27.
“They fought gallantly,” Scott said. “I am very proud of these middle school guys battling so hard and scoring 27 points against a JV squad. It was great! The experience they got here tonight will pay off in spades for these guys in the future.”
Cole Hall led the Patriots with 13 points in the game — knocking down a couple of vital three-pointers to slow the Warriors’ momentum in the third quarter. Now, Southern Christian will have a busy week playing at the Evangel Lightning, a dominant force in the ACSC Conference, and also rematching with Southern Prep and the Wiregrass Kings from Dothan, which will see the Patriots at home in Covington Rec Center, right here in Opelika. Game time is 5 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 29. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.