Regional finals: Spartans return to final four
HANCEVILLE – Several local teams were involved in high school basketball regional final games Tuesday, with the winners advancing to the state final four in Birmingham next week.
Clark’s double-double sends Spartans back to final four
Behind a terrific performance from Julius Clark, the Mountain Brook boys are once again heading to the final four, after defeating Huffman 71-59 on Tuesday in the Class 6A Northeast Regional final at Jacksonville State University.
“I can’t even explain it, I feel so good right now,” Clark said. “I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t [have any] words.”
Clark was dominant in the game, scoring 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting and adding 13 rebounds, picking up a double-double in the biggest game of his career.
Ty Davis opened the game up by taking the opening tip to the basket, giving Mountain Brook a 2-0 lead within 10 seconds of the game starting. From there, the two teams traded baskets for a few minutes, before Davis went on a 6-0 run by himself to put the Spartans up 12-6.
After leading 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Spartans took over. It took just 90 seconds for Mountain Brook to extend its lead to 25-12. Huffman slowly clawed its way back into the game, but the Vikings were never within a possession of Mountain Brook.
Davis finished the game with a game-high 21 points, adding five rebounds, three assists and two blocks to his name. John Colvin and Kyle Layton joined Davis and Clark in the double-figures club, adding 16 and 10 points, respectively.
Davis, Clark, and Colvin were all selected to the all-tournament team, with Clark being named MVP.
Mountain Brook turns its attention to Legacy Arena, where the program has been many times, but Tyler Davis pointed out that this team is making its first trip to the state tournament.
“It’s great to continue [the legacy], but at the same time, the 2022-2023 Spartans have not been to the final four,” said Ty Davis.
Mountain Brook will play the winner of the Central regional at Legacy Arena next Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
Hewitt girls fall short
The Hewitt-Trussville girls were eliminated from the Class 7A playoffs following a 55-44 loss to Sparkman on Tuesday in the Northeast Regional final at Jacksonville State University.
“When you’re in these games, you try to find the flow really early and you try to keep it, and I felt like we had the flow,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Tonya Hunter said.
Hewitt controlled the game in the first 12 minutes, leading by as much as 10 points midway through the second quarter.
After a Sparkman timeout, the Senators took over, outscoring Hewitt 51-30 over the final 20 minutes of the game.
Entering the fourth quarter, Sparkman led 34-27, but Hunter challenged her team to give another fight to try to win the game, and the Lady Huskies answered her call.
On the first possession of the final frame, April Hooks nailed a 3-pointer, followed by a 3-point play by Ashlyn Howard to put the Lady Huskies within one. Hooks promptly stole the ball and converted a layup to give Hewitt a 35-34 lead with 6:49 to play.
From there, the teams traded baskets until Sparkman was able to use the free-throw line to pull away, converting 26-of-32 free throws.
“The category that separated us was the free throws,” Hunter remarked. “Where we’re shooting eight, they shot 32. That’s really hard to fight against.”
Offensively, five players scored for the Lady Huskies, with Jordan Hunter’s 12 points leading the way, while Audre Benson added 11 of her own. Both players were named to the all-tournament team for their performances in the last two games.
Jordan Hunter, a five-year varsity player, mentioned that Hewitt played in the regional tournament four times and has come to expect the student section to show up and create an electric atmosphere.
Sparkman was led by Kennedy Langham’s 15 points and Jamya Griffin’s 14 points.
Sparkman will play the winner of the Central regional at Legacy Arena next Thursday at noon.
Jags advance to third-straight final four
The Spain Park boys advanced to the Class 7A state semifinals after suffocating Huntsville 38-35 on Tuesday in the Northeast Regional championship game at Jacksonville State University.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” Spain Park head coach Chris Laatsch said. “Over the last couple of weeks, these guys have just become tough and resilient and learned how to win games.”
It was a defensive battle from the start, with Spain Park holding a 14-9 lead at halftime, but Laatsch said that was the game his team wanted.
Entering the game, Huntsville was one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the state, but the Panthers shot just 1-of-19 from behind the arc in the game.
“Our message all week was to guard the arc and make everything contested,” Laatsch revealed. “We knew that we needed to keep them off-balance, so we played about seven defenses.”
While Huntsville wasn’t converting at its normal rate, Spain Park struggled to find shots and protect the ball, shooting 14 fewer shots than Huntsville and committing 15 turnovers.
For Spain Park, it was all-tournament selection Zach Gray leading the scoring attack, converting on 2-of-3 3-point attempts and scoring 14 points. Four other Jaguars, including tournament MVP Sam Wright, added points.
“It’s great to be able to go back [to the final four],” Wright said. “One step closer to our final goal.”
Spain Park led for the entire game, leading by as much as 10 points in the fourth quarter, but Huntsville took advantage of rebounding and turnovers to get within one point with less than 10 seconds to play.
Ja’Mari Arnold was Huntsville’s leading scorer with 10 points.
This is the third consecutive trip to the final four for the Jaguars, missing out on the championship game in both of their previous trips.
Spain Park will play against the winner of the Central regional at Legacy Arena next Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
Lady Bucs close out Bob Jones
The Hoover girls basketball team opened up a quick lead and held Bob Jones at arm’s length the rest of the way, as the Lady Bucs won 48-35 on Tuesday afternoon in the Class 7A Northwest Regional final at Wallace State Community College.
With the win, Hoover advances to the state final four and will face Prattville next Thursday at 3 p.m. at Legacy Arena.
Hoover is looking for a third consecutive state championship, and went on a 10-0 run early in the second quarter to put some distance on the Patriots, a much-improved team this season.
“We’re excited to get back [to the final four],” Hoover head coach Krystle Johnson said. “We have a standard that we want to play to, and we played okay, but the second half there was a drop off.”
Hoover held an 11-5 lead after a quarter of play and was up 25-10 at the half, but Bob Jones fought to within single digits in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 18. Bob Jones coach Jazmine Powers Carr said the key to the game was Hoover’s penchant for offensive rebounds, of which the Lady Bucs secured 13. Hoover converted that into 14 second-chance points.
Hoover has dropped just one game this season, navigating the graduation of star player Aniya Hubbard with success. Johnson said she is proud of her team, particularly her seniors, for showing the depth of the roster.
“A lot of people have had to step up and be in positions they haven’t been in,” Johnson said. “People wrote us off after Aniya graduated…We’re a very good program.”
Layla Etchison is one of those seniors that has stepped up alongside star guard Reniya Kelly. Kelly led the way with 18 points Tuesday, while Etchison contributed 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 rebounds.
“Everybody had to step up,” Etchison said.
Bucs lock down Rebels
The Hoover boys are headed back to the state final four for the first time since 2019 after defeating Vestavia Hills 58-26 on Tuesday in the Class 7A Northwest Regional final at Wallace State Community College.
The Rebels had beaten the Bucs in two of the area foes’ previous three meetings this season, but Hoover locked down Vestavia Hills defensively, limiting the Rebels to just 26% shooting and 0-of-12 from 3-point range.
“We saved some things,” Hoover head coach Scott Ware said of his team’s defensive effort. “This is the fourth time we’ve played these guys. They’re good and we have tremendous respect for them. We really locked in on the game plan and did an excellent job.”
Hoover led wire-to-wire and never allowed the Rebels any substantial momentum the entire contest.
“Four single-digit quarters isn’t going to win in the regional finals,” Vestavia Hills head coach Patrick Davis said. “We didn’t guard well, we didn’t do anything well. They did a really good job. Combined with as poorly as we’ve played in 31 games, when it really matters, that’s not fun.”
Eight players got into the scoring column for Hoover, led by Jarett Fairley’s 11 points. DeWayne Brown Jr. added a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Salim London filled up the stat sheet as well, finishing with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.
The Bucs shot 59% from the field in the game, including 10-of-19 from 3-point range.
Hoover returned largely the same main cast from last season, a team that saw its season ended in the area tournament. London and Brown said the key to this team’s turnaround has been staying focused with consistent effort for entire games.
Jackson Weaver led Vestavia with 8 points and 5 rebounds.
“We maybe exceeded other people’s expectations, but not ours. Getting to play with Win [Miller] and all these seniors, it was a really good year,” Weaver said.
Win Miller, who became the program’s all-time leading scorer earlier this season, capped off his stellar high school career Tuesday.
“Nobody though we were going to be here,” he said. “We were counted out by everybody, but we were one of the best teams in the state throughout the year.”
Hoover moves on to play Dothan in the 7A semifinals next Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at Legacy Arena.