Semifinal game moved to Thursday

The Hoover Buccaneers semifinal game has been moved to Thursday due to the possibility of inclement weather. 

The Hoover Buccaneers defeated Sparkman 49-44 on Feb. 17 in Hanceville to win the Northwest Regional championship and earn a berth in the semifinals of the AHSAA Basketball State Finals to be played at Legacy Arena at the BJCC.

Dylan Smith scored 17 points, doing much of his damage from the free-throw line, where he was 9 of 11, and from 3-point range, knocking down two treys. Mauirice Brown added 10 points and seven rebounds, one of three Bucs to grab seven boards -- Austin Cherry and Sam Bowman were the others -- as Hoover dominated 41-27 on the glass.

Hoover was 6 of 21 from 3-point range, Cherry hitting two of those on his way to eight points, and he added three assists.

The Bucs led 16-4 after a quarter and 22-11 at half, but the Senators won the third quarter 9-5 and outscored the Bucs 24-23 to keep it close. But the Bucs put it away by knocking down 12 of 15 free throws in the final period.

The Bucs' semifinal game will start at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.