Ava Card plays the game “with a lot of freedom,” her coach admitted. The Saint James forward is one of the tallest players in the Capital City Conference, but has more range than a lot of players, which makes her a dual threat to score every time she touches the ball.
“Ava had the ability to stretch out to the perimeter and shoot 3s, but she also knows where her strengths are,” Saint James coach Katie Barton said. “And her strengths aren’t just sitting in the post and posting up. Her strengths are that she’s a dual, combo player. That’s what makes her tough to guard. And I don’t have a problem with her motor. If she is shooting 3s, she’s going to hit the boards, she doesn’t just stand on the perimeter and want the ball.”
Last year, Card and Trinity’s Emma Kate Smith were co-players of the year in the Capital City Conference and the two were the obvious frontrunners for the award again in 2023. And while Smith got the big prize -- she and her Trinity teammates won a state championship -- Card was chosen as the Capital City Conference Player of the Year.
“Ava’s different in that she’s a 6-foot guard who is versatile enough to get the ball to the rim and get the ball to the rack,” Barton said.
Card earned first-team selection to the all-CCC team for the third consecutive year after averaging 21 points, seven rebounds and 2.5 steals per game, leading her team in all three categories. She also averaged 2.1 assists per game in helping the Trojans to their third consecutive trip to the regional finals, a first in school history. Card scored 692 points this season, boosting her career total to 1,563 points. With a similar season in 2023-24, she won’t catch Leslie Claybrook, who scored a school record 2,668 points for the Trojans, but she could catch Smith.
The Trinity senior, who was the CCC Player of the Year in 2020 and 2022, finished third in River Region career scoring with 2,270 points, ranking third behind Catholic’s Michelle Delongchamp and Claybrook.
Smith was also a first-team selection to the Capital City Conference in each of the last five years. She is joined on the first team by her younger sister Maddie, who is making her fourth appearance on the first team as a sophomore.
Also making the first team was teammate Francine Morris and Catholic’s Hannah Smith, who made the first team a year ago.
Trinity coach Blake Smith was an obvious selection by the coaches as the Capital City Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Wildcats to the 3A state championship. Smith’s team went 32-2 this past season, losing the opener to eventual 4A state champion Prattville Christian and a game in December to 7A Bob Jones before reeling off 19 consecutive victories on the way to the state title.
Smith returned a talented group of starters that included his daughters Emma Kate and Maddie, along with sophomore Mya Moskowitz, but added a pair of first-year players in Jayden Mitchell and Morris that made the Wildcats one of the most talented starting units in the state. The loss of Mitchell to a season ending knee injury in mid-January could have derailed the team’s championship hopes, but Smith inserted his youngest daughter, Lilly, into the starting lineup and the Wildcats reached the state tournament for the first time since 2014.
2023 ALL-CAPITAL CITY CONFERENCE
First Team
Ava Card 6-0 F Jr. Saint James
Francine Morris 5-8 G So. Trinity
Emma Kate Smith 5-8 G Sr. Trinity
Hannah Smith 5-11 F Fr. Catholic
Maddie Smith 5-8 G So. Trinity
Second Team
Heaven Bailey 5-6 G 8th Catholic
Natalie Barton 5-7 G 8th Saint James
KK Hall 5-8 G Sr. Saint James
Mya Moskowitz 5-10 F So. Trinity
Allyse Rudolph 5-6 G Sr. Catholic
PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- Ava Card, Saint James
COACH OF THE YEAR -- Blake Smith, Trinity
HONORABLE MENTION: Katie Brightwell, 5-7. G, Jr., Saint James; Jaydyn Mitchell, 5-8, G, Sr., Trinity; Jaide Newkirk, 5-10, F, So., Alabama Christian; Rachel Rine, 5-4, G, Sr., Alabama Christian; Katelyn Sutton, G, So., Alabama Christian; Caroline Waller, 5-8, G, So., Montgomery Academy.