Bucs' season ends at hands of Vestavia
HANCEVILLE – The fourth time was the charm.
Despite falling to its Class 7A, Area 5 foe three previous times in the regular season, the Vestavia Hills boys basketball team took down Hoover on Tuesday morning, 58-47, in the Class 7A Northwest Regional Final at Wallace State Community College.
“Wow,” said first-year Vestavia head coach Patrick Davis following the game. “Hoover’s got a good ball club and are really well-coached.
“We just had to be better today.”
The Rebels were the better team on Tuesday, a win that will send them back to the Final Four for the first time since 2011.
“We never talked about it,” said Davis of reaching the Final Four. “We were never result-oriented. Our guys were always committed.”
Vestavia Hills (18-14) shot 50% on the day, while the Bucs shot just 26%. Hoover coach Charles Burkett said it was not a matter of not respecting the Rebels. It was a lack of execution in the game plan.
“After beating them three times, we prepared as if we lost to them three times,” Burkett said. “We had a game plan and didn’t stick to the script. We took poor shots and didn’t execute like we were supposed to.”
The game was tight for the majority of the contest, but Vestavia led the entirety of the second half. The Rebels took a 34-30 lead into the final quarter, and a pair of Colin Scollard and Mac Smith baskets pushed Vestavia’s lead into double digits.
Hoover had chances to make the game interesting towards the end, but the Rebels made 11 free throws in the final quarter to keep the edge.
Vestavia scored the final five points of the first quarter on a Smith 3-pointer and a Luke Champion jumper to take a 17-12 lead. The pace slowed down for both sides in the second period, as the Bucs outscored the Rebels 8-7 and Vestavia held a 24-21 margin at the break.
Scott Morrison led the Rebels with 20 points in the game, including converting all eight of his free throw attempts. Smith followed closely behind with 19 points, and added six rebounds.
“After all the work, it feels really good, knowing that we worked so hard,” Smith said.
Jamari Blackmon led all scorers with 23 points in the game. Ahman Ellington also reached double figures for the Bucs, scoring 13. Marion Humphrey led Hoover with eight boards.
Scollard and Champion each ripped down nine rebounds for Vestavia.
Hoover won the state crown in 2015 and reached the Final Four again in 2016, but fell short of reaching that stage for the third consecutive season. The disappointment in that fact is a testament to the program Burkett has built at Hoover.
“We’re a championship-caliber program,” Burkett said. “We’re a legitimate contender year in and year out, and that’s from the hard work of these kids.”
Hoover's Justin Rumph and Blackmon were each named to the Northwest Regional all-tournament team, along with Smith from Vestavia. Morrison took home tournament MVP honors.
With the win, Vestavia Hills advances to face Auburn in the state semifinals, to be held March 2 at 10:30 a.m. at the BJCC. The Rebels will have a shot at their first state title since 2009 with a pair of wins.
“I remember watching Jordan Swing as a kid,” Morrison said of the former Rebel star who led the team to that 2009 crown.
To reach the regional final, Hoover knocked off Sparkman and Vestavia Hills defeated Bob Jones last week in the semifinals.