Sarah Finnegan
Hoover vs McGill Toolen Football State Championship 2017
Hoover players celebrate their win over McGill Toolen during the AHSAA Class 7A championship game between on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
Over the course of the year, the Hoover Sun will keep you up to date on the various Hoover and Spain Park high school athletic teams. For previous weekly updates, click here.
FOOTBALL
The Hoover High School football team capped off its season with a dominant 48-20 victory over McGill-Toolen in the Class 7A state championship game last Wednesday. Click here for full coverage of the title game.
BASKETBALL
Hoover
The Hoover High School basketball teams only got one game in last week, as they traveled to Huffman on Tuesday.
The girls team won 55-32 behind 14 points from Eboni Williams and 10 points from Madison Adamson. The boys suffered their first loss of the season with a 51-49 defeat, as Trey Jemison sat out with an injury. Jamari Blackmon led the way with 19 points, and Devin Wilson scored 16 points.
Hoover’s boys were slated to play Norcross (Georgia) in the Buford Showcase on Saturday, but the event was canceled due to the winter weather.
This week, both teams travel to Central-Tuscaloosa on Tuesday and host Wenonah Thursday. They also head to Atlanta on Saturday. The boys play Kennesaw Mountain at the Southeast Basketball Academy Hoops Festival, and the girls play St. Francis in the Queen of the Hardwood Classic.
Spain Park
The Spain Park High School basketball teams played one game last week, as the Jags visited Ramsay on Tuesday.
Ramsay won both varsity contests. The Lady Jags (6-2) fell, 63-53, in overtime, as a tight four quarters turned ugly in the extra period, with Ramsay outscoring Spain Park 10-0. Ramsay also won the boys game, 84-64.
This week, the boys travel to McAdory on Tuesday. The girls head to Gadsden City on Tuesday and hosts Carver-Montgomery on Friday.
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
The Hoover track and field teams competed in their second meet of the indoor season on Saturday and, for the second consecutive weekend, captured team titles.
The Buccaneers girls and boys both outpaced runner-up Homewood at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Sydney Steely, Genesis Jones and Natalie Tashman all won events for the Hoover girls. Steely took first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 18.47 seconds; Jones took first in the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet, 4 inches, and Tashman took first in the pole vault with a clearance of 10-6.
But they were not the only athletes to excel.
Haley Stallworth and Caroline Sall placed second and third in the 3,200-meter run, running 11:41 and 11:44, respectively. Michelle Nkoudou, meanwhile, finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.97. Riley White joined Tashman on the podium for pole vault, taking second by also clearing 10-6. Rosalind Staie finished third in the shot put with a heave of 34-8.75.
The Hoover girls also won the 4x400-meter relay in 4:10 and placed third in the 4x800-meter relay in 10:29.
On the boys side, four Buccaneers secured first-place finishes. Kennon Johnson won the 60 hurdles in 8.97; Alex Leary won the 800 in 1:57; J’Marri McCall won the long jump with a leap of 21-6, and Kyle Smith won the triple jump with a leap of 45-2. McCall and Smith both set meet records.
R.J. Nelson also ran well, placing second in the 60-meter dash (7.10). He was followed closely by Spain Park’s Kameron McDaniel, who took third in 7.11.
The Hoover boys won the 4x200-meter relay in a meet-record time 1:30. They also placed second in both the 4x400 (3:32) and 4x800 (8:24) relays.
On Saturday, Hoover will host the USATF Galleria Games at the CrossPlex.
NOTABLE
Spain Park freshman pitcher Annabelle Widra committed to Oklahoma State to play softball. Click here for the story on her commitment.
-- What did we miss? What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.
