Mobile Christian’s Sema’J Law drives for a basket against Houston Academy in the Class 3A South Regional semifinals Wednesday at Montgomery’s Garrett Coliseum. Law scored 20 points but the Leopards fell to the No. 5 Raiders 68-64. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MONTGOMERY — Mobile Christian bandaged itself up as well as it could after the loss of its best all-around player but faded over the final four minutes and lost to No. 5-ranked Houston Academy 68-64 Wednesday in the Class 3A South Regional semifinals at Garrett Coliseum.
Sophomore forward Rico Prince, who was averaging 13 points and 9 rebounds per game for the Leopards, suffered a knee injury over the weekend while practicing on his own and his absence was too much for Mobile Christian to overcome in a game with 12 lead changes.
Without Prince to help on the glass, the Raiders (18-4) outrebounded the Leopards 17-7 on the offensive boards and outscored them 21-11 on second-chance points.
Guards Sema’J Law and Hakeem Winston scored 20 points each and, along with Austin Delmore, played the entire game for Mobile Christian (16-8).
“Even when we found out about Rico’s injury, I thought to myself, ‘Man, we’ve still got a good shot, even with our low numbers,’” Mobile Christian coach Will Phillips said as Prince hobbled past on crutches on the way to the bus. “We’ve had low numbers all year. We started the season with eight players, then had one get sick with mono and then Rico getting hurt. We knew it was going to be tough but we have been there the whole year facing adversity, whatever it was. We had guys play all 32 minutes, never get a breather, and for us to go against a team like that, number five in the state, it felt really good.”
Phillips said Prince, who scored 12 points in Saturday’s 62-52 sub-regional win over Monroe County, likely suffered a torn meniscus and should return in three to four months.
Houston Academy got 29 points from 6-1 forward Gabe Glover and 20 more from guard Kadyn Mitchell but the Leopards’ defense held 6-7 forward Jordan Forrester to 12 points.
“We knew going in that 6-7 guy they have over there, and some really good athletes, that rebounding is gonna be a tough issue for us,” Phillips said.
Winston’s three-point play after a driving layup tied it 58-58 with 4:04 to go but Glover’s 3-pointer gave the Raiders the lead for good at 61-58.
Winston’s scooping layup made it 65-64 with 48 seconds left but Brayden Eubanks’ two free throws gave Houston Academy a three-point lead and Law missed a tying three ball from the left wing over a defender with 5 seconds left.
Phillips said he told his guards they’d have more weight on their shoulders with Prince’s loss.
“We told our guards, you guys have to step up, that you’re going to get more shots as it is anyway,” Phillips said. “You don’t need to have any pressure on you to feel like you’ve got to shoot these shots or force them but we want you guys to just play.”
Law, Winston and Nick Allen were also forced to get more aggressive defensively but the Raiders had just four turnovers.
“We were really worried about the defensive side of it, so what we had to do, because we knew (Mitchell and Glover) were their go-to guys, we tried to start trapping more in the second half to get the ball out of their hands and really be early to help,” Phillips said. “They’re a good basketball team and it’s hard to stop them, especially when you’re tired and you don’t get any breathers.”
