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Hoover's Dylan Smith put the Hoover Buccaneers on his back and carried them into the Class 7A championship game of the AHSAA State Final.
The Bucs survived a fierce effort from Robert E. Lee of Montgomery 65-56 in double-overtime at Legacy Arena at the BJCC Thursday night.
Smith scored 27 points -- eight in the first overtime and eight more in the second overtime.
"Dylan Smith took over most of the fourth quarter and overtime," coach Charles Burkett said, "but our defense bought him enough time."
"Someone who hasn't seen him play might think this was the game of his life," Burkett said of Smith. "But this is typical. He's one of the great offensive players not only in the metro area, but in the state, region and, I think, country."
Smith had been held to a relatively modest 11 points after four quarters. In fact, it was teammate Maurice Brown's 3-pointer with 29 seconds left in regulation that tied the game at 41 and led to extra time.
But with the Bucs trailing 48-45 in OT, Smith dialed in a 3-pointer to tie the score with 1:37 left. Then he delivered an old-fashioned three-point play to give Hoover a 51-50 lead with 1:17 in the first OT. And then, with the Bucs down 52-51, he nailed another trey to give the Bucs a 54-52 lead with 25 seconds left. But Lee managed a bucket by Roderic Scott to force a second OT.
Hoover's Matthew Calhoun opened the second OT with a trey and after Lee made a bucket to cut the margin to one point, Smith drove into the lane, nearly stumbled and forced home a spectacular layup for a 59-56 lead with 52 seconds left
Forced to foul, the Generals sent the BUcs to the line. Smith went six of six down the stretch for the final margin.
"I knew my shots were going to fall," Smith said.
A fast and physical first quarter resulted in a 11-10 lead. The Bucs might have been in more serious trouble if Shaquille Bracey hadn't scored two baskets off the bench.
The Bucs led 20-17 at the half. Lee shot just 22 percent in the first half, going 0-for-7 from 3-point range. Hoover shot just 28 percent and was 1-of-11 from long distance. The Bucs led the Generals 26-20 on the boards, but turned the ball over 11 times to the Generals' eight.
The shooting improved early in the third, as Lee's Johnathan Wiley knocked down a 3 and Brown answered for Hoover. A Leonard Wood layin extended the lead to 27-24, but the Bucs continued to play loose with the ball and Lee clawed back to take a 28-27 lead.A steal under the basket and layup by Jeremiah Johnson gave Lee a 30-27 lead with two minutes left in the third.
A Trenton Clayton follow gave Lee a three-point lead but a Bracey bucket cut the Lee lead to 32-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bracey opened the fourth with a basket to cut it to 32-31 and after a steal Austin Cherry made a pair of free throws to give the Bucs a 33-32 lead with 6:44 to play.
Kendarius Hatrwell made a pair of free throws to give Lee the 34-33 lead with just under six minutes left.
But the Bucs' Smith made a nifty move on a drive to the glass and laid it in to give his team a 35-34 lead with 4:57 left. Hartwell tied it with a FT seconds later.
Burton was fouled on a drive with four minutes left, but the Lee star made just one of two to give the Generals the lead, and after another Hoover turnover, Hartwell added one more FT for a 37-35 lead with just over three to play
But Cherry was fouled on a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:50 to go and the senior knocked all three down to give Hoover a 38-37 edge.
Burton was fouled on a drive to the rim and made one of two free throws with 2:16 to go to tie the game.
After an offensive foul on Smith, Clayton scored on a pass from the high post to put Lee back up 40-38 with 1:36 remaining.
Smith missed a driving shot with a minute to play and Lee had the ball with 46.6 left.
Hoover fouled Roderic Scott with 37.7 left and he made one free throw for a three-point lead.
Brown then came down and knotted it with a trey with 25 seconds left.
For the game, Hoover and Lee each shot 34 percent from the floor. A big difference came at the free-throw line where the BUcs connected on 15 of 18 while the Generals made just 14 of 34. Hoover turned it over 26 times to the Generals' 20.
Brown finished with 11 points and Bracey was a spark off the bench with 10.
Burkett praised his bench -- Cherry was one of four Bucs to foul out.
"So many kids played quality minutes," he said.
"This is not a Cinderella story," Burkett said. "From day 1, this was our goal and now we've just got to finish it."
That chance will come Saturday at 7 p.m. when the Bucs will face the Mountain Brook Spartans, who beat Theodore, also in double-overtime.
