Saint James' Ava Card and Trinity's Emma Kate Smith Co-Players of the Year

Katie Barton thought she had a talented team, provided the right pieces were in the right place and the players understood their roles.

Early in the season, though, Saint James coach wasn’t sure whether her players understood their potential.

“At the beginning of the year, I felt like we had a good shot at advancing in the playoffs, making a deep run,” Barton said. “By ‘deep run,’ I’m thinking we should be back battling in the regional finals. About mid-January, they started to pull it together. You just saw a different personality, not a ‘can we do this,’ but a ‘when we do this’ attitude.

“We juggled some things around early in the season. People believed in their roles. Sometimes, you’ve got a team where there might be a kid who doesn’t believe their role is what you need it to be and that can affect dynamics, team chemistry and everything. But all the girls accepted whatever role I ended up putting them in.”

And the Trojans responded, beating Geneva in the regional finals, then New Hope in the semifinals to reach the state finals for only the second time in school history.

Ava Card was the primary reason behind the Trojans’ development later in the season. The sophomore, content to play her role on a team that relied on defense but needed more offense, took on more and more of a scoring role later in the season despite the attention of opposing teams focused on denying her the ball.

“Ava dealt with, from January on, double and triple teams sent her way,” Barton said. “Every single team that played us face guarded KK Hall and sent double and triple teams toward Ava Card every single time she touched the ball. She maintained her points per game, and her rebounding, and made a difference in every game. She did that handling double and triple teams. I was really happy with how she grew mentally and what she put into her game in the offseason to make her the player she is.”

Card, who averaged 19 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, had a memorable game against New Hope in the 4A semifinals, hitting the game-winning shot to send the Trojans into the finals against Deshler. Her performance this season earned recognition from the Capital City Conference coaches, who chose Card and Trinity’s Emma Kate Smith as co-players of the year. Barton was selected as the coach of the year after leading the Trojans to their second-ever appearance in the state finals.

Smith had a similar performance this year, leading the Wildcats to a berth in the regional finals and handing 3A state champion Prattville Christian Academy its only loss of the season. Smith, a junior point guard for the Wildcats, earned CCC player of the year honors as a freshman as well.

Both players are expected to battle for player of the year honors again next year as Trinity returns three starters from this year’s team and should contend for an opportunity to advance to the state tournament, while Saint James will return four starters and a more determined Card next season.

“I just talked to her about making sure she doesn’t get clouded,” Barton said. “Don’t get caught up in what other people say about her or what other players are doing, just run your race. If she does that and stays focused, she’s going to return even better.”