Hoops recap: Lady Jags clinch area title
The Spain Park High School girls basketball team clinched the Class 7A, Area 6 regular season title with a dominant 61-35 win at Huffman on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Lady Jags ran their record to 5-0 in the area.
“We’ve played really well since we started area play,” head coach Mike Chase said. “I think we’re playing our best basketball right now and we’ve still got a lot of tough games left.”
Huffman began the game on an 8-0 run with a couple of leak-outs that led to points, before Ahrielle Parks got the Lady Jags on the board with a 3-pointer, as Spain Park went on a 12-0 run to conclude the first quarter. During that run, Sarah Ashlee Barker drove coast-to-coast and finished a spinning layup and Bailey Bowers drained a pull-up 3.
Following that burst to start the game, Spain Park outscored the Vikings 30-8 to end the half and take a 14-point advantage into the locker room. During the second quarter, the Lady Jags ran several efficient offensive sets, scoring 18 points in the period. Barrett Herring scored five of her seven points in the quarter on a pair of putbacks off of missed shots.
“Since right after Christmas, we’ve been shooting a much higher percentage from behind the 3-point line, which opens up a lot of other things,” Chase said. “We’re also starting to play defense and rebound it a little bit better.”
The final two quarters were much of the same, with lockdown defense and efficient offense, led by 20 points from Parks on the evening. Claire Holt spaced out her efforts throughout the game and finished up with 16 points. Barker added eight points.
JAGS FALTER IN FINAL QUARTER
Going on the road against a formidable opponent is no easy task, and Huffman proved that on Tuesday night, defeating visiting Spain Park, 70-53, in a Class 7A, Area 6 matchup.
The Jags suffered their first loss in area play, and now fall to 4-1, setting up a winner-take-all battle with Mountain Brook on Friday. The victor will earn the right to host the area tournament.
The first quarter was a frenetic one, as Spain Park jumped out to a 7-0 edge before Huffman got its feet under it. Jamal Johnson scored 12 of his game-high 32 points in the opening period, but Huffman battled back and scored the final six points of the quarter to take a 16-15 lead.
The game came to a screeching halt in the second quarter, not necessarily because of slow play, but moreso due to a lack of execution from both sides. The period featured a bevy of turnovers and not much shot-making, as the Vikings scored just four points to Spain Park’s three to take a 20-18 edge into the halftime break.
The Vikings began to pull away early in the third quarter, with a 9-2 run right out of the gates. Johnson proceeded to go off, draining three consecutive 3-pointers and scoring 15 points in the quarter, but Huffman managed to maintain a six-point lead into the final period.
Huffman proceeded to score the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to essentially put the game away.
Travarus Carroll led the way for Huffman with 23 points. Myreon Jones scored 16 points, followed by 13 from Ronald Youngblood.