Northwest Regional roundup: Spartans punch ticket to regional final

HANCEVILLE -- The Class 7A Northwest Regional semifinal high school basketball games took place on Thursday at Wallace State Community College. Here’s a recap of the first four games, all involving local schools.

Boys - Mountain Brook 67, Florence 48

A typical Mountain Brook boys basketball performance led the Spartans to a convincing 67-48 win over Florence on Thursday.

It wasn’t flashy, but a complete team effort helped the Spartans inch a step closer to a fourth straight state title.

“When we take care of the ball, our defense is going to be really good,” Mountain Brook head coach Bucky McMillan said. “Teams have a tough time getting to 50 on us, so if we take care of the ball we’re not spotting them any points.”

Florence stayed with Mountain Brook through the first quarter, with the score 16-14 in Mountain Brook’s favor, but the Spartans started to pull away at that point due in large part to the play of Carter Sobera. Sobera stepped up with Colby Jones in foul trouble to score 15 first-half points. He finished with 25 points in the contest. 

Sobera continued to dominate the paint with bucket after bucket, with the senior going 11-for-12 from the floor while playing 26 minutes. 

After an even third quarter, Mountain Brook iced the game by only allowing five fourth quarter points to the Falcons. 

Mountain Brook will face area opponent Spain Park in the regional final on Tuesday at 10:45 a.m.

Click here to purchase photos from the Spartans' win.

Girls - Vestavia Hills 54, Austin 49

Anna Wood and Emma Smith were clutch down the stretch to give the Vestavia Hills girls basketball team a 54-49 win over Austin. 

In John David Smelser’s first year as the Lady Rebels head coach, he is now one win away from heading to the final four in Birmingham. He said, with a choked up voice, what this game means to his team.

“This is a testament of what our year has been,” he said. “We never give up. They’re tough as nails. They’re undersized in every position. I’m so proud to be able to be their coach.”

After an even first quarter — in which Smith banged in three 3-pointers — the Lady Rebels fell off in the second, allowing Austin to take a 26-22 lead into halftime. Austin extended that lead in the early portions of the second half.  But the story doesn’t end there with the Lady Rebels.

Wood came into the fourth quarter with seven points, but she came up big in the end. Wood finished the game for Vestavia scoring 10 points in the fourth, including a big bucket to take the lead and two free throws to ice the game. Smith finished with a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 5-for-5 beyond the arc. 

Vestavia will face an area foe in Spain Park, which has bested them three times this season, in the regional final on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Click here to view and purchase photos from the Lady Rebels' victory.

Boys - Spain Park 60, Austin 46

Spain Park’s boys basketball team used a big fourth quarter to run away from Austin and to the Northwest Regional final with a 60-46 win.

Austin kept things close throughout most of the game, including bringing it to within one point at the end of the third quarter, but the Jaguars sank 13 free throws in the fourth quarter and hung on.

Second-year head coach Chris Laatsch said this team has made a big leap from when he took over the program nearly two years ago.

“I’m a bit overwhelmed with joy and pride for these guys,” he said. “The journey they have taken our program, our school and community on has been incredible. The strides they’ve made in two years have been awesome.”

Austin held Cam Crawford scoreless in the first half, but he scored 15 points in a strong second half to propel the Jaguars. 

Crawford said he had to show up in the second half to help out his team.

“I just wanted to win and not let my teammates down,” he said. “We’ve come too far to not show up in the biggest game of our career. I just wanted to do something to contribute so we could be back here Tuesday.”

Spain Park locked down on defense, allowing just seven points in the fourth quarter. The Jaguars dominated the boards grabbing 43 rebounds to Austin’s 31 during the contest. 

Crawford finished with a double-double, adding 10 rebounds to his 15 points, and Colin Turner added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. 

Spain Park will face Mountain Brook on Tuesday at 10:45 a.m. in the regional final. 

Click here to view and purchase photos from the Jags' victory.

Girls - Spain Park 64, Florence 29

As “overrated” chants  aimed at senior Sarah Ashlee Barker rained down from the Florence student section, she dominated and led the Spain Park girls basketball team to a 64-29 victory.

Barker said the gamesmanship didn’t bother her, but instead pushed her and the Lady Jaguars to an overwhelming win.

“I think it’s kind of funny,” she said. “I think any athlete would want to hear the overrated chant because that means you’ve done something good. When they call me overrated for making shots, they’re just trying to get into my head.”

She didn’t let it. Barker stuffed the stat sheet with 24 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and three assists.

After a slow first quarter left Spain Park up five points, the Lady Jaguars turned it up a notch and ran away with the game. Spain Park outscored Florence 39-6 over the next two quarters including a shutout in the third quarter. 

“In the first quarter we weren’t doing a good job stopping the dribble penetration,” Spain Park head coach Mike Chase said. “Second quarter, we started pushing them to their weak hand and not letting them get to that spot they wanted to get to. Then we’re able to get the defensive rebounds and get the ball down in transition.”

Spain Park will play Vestavia Hills for the Northwest Regional final on Tuesday. Spain Park is 3-0 against Vestavia this season. 

Click here to view and purchase photos from the Lady Jags' victory.

Northeast Regional

Many local Class 7A teams were at the Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State as well on Thursday. In girls action, Oak Mountain fell to Gadsden City, while Hoover routed Huntsville. On the boys side, Oak Mountain blitzed Huntsville with a quick start and the Hoover boys fell to Sparkman after losing leading scorer DJ Fairley.