Final four: Bucs, Lady Bucs move on, Jags fall
BIRMINGHAM – The Class 7A high school basketball state semifinals took place at Legacy Arena at the BJCC on Thursday, with both Hoover’s boys and girls and Spain Park’s boys taking part in the final four.
Lady Bucs leave no doubt
The outcome was in doubt for only a few minutes in Thursday’s morning Class 7A semifinal game between the Hoover girls and Prattville, with the Lady Bucs cruising to an 87-39 win.
Hoover will face Sparkman on Saturday at 4 p.m., as the Lady Bucs look for their third consecutive state championship.
“I thought we came out today and opened up in the first quarter pretty good,” Hoover head coach Krystle Johnson said. “We knew Prattville was going to play hard, so we tried to play hard and not overlook today’ game.”
Hoover (33-1) took a commanding double-digit lead quickly and opened it up to 52-23 at the half. That allowed the Lady Bucs to get plenty of minutes for most of the roster.
“It’s a big deal, because we have seven seniors, and we’ve talked about all year that these seniors are going to graduate and someone has to step up,” Johnson said.
One of those players who will undoubtedly have a significant role next season is Ariana Peagler, who shined Thursday with 13 points. She also had 5 rebounds and tied a team-high with 4 assists. Johnson said Peagler had been struggling offensively, although her defense has been consistently strong all season.
Senior Reniya Kelly was on target, per usual. She scored 18 points on an efficient 7-of-12 shooting. She picked up 5 steals as well. It’s her fifth straight season at the final four, so Thursday’s game was nothing new for her.
“I’m really blessed to be here so many times,” she said. “I have a lot of experience, so I just try to be comfortable and take my time. We’re just trying to get a ring right now.”
Kelly will have to wait a little more than 48 hours for the final game of her storied high school career. She admitted she will be anxious and wishes they could play Friday.
“I’ll be watching film and learning the opponent, studying whoever we play next,” she said.
Layla Etchison notched 16 points, 6 steals and 4 assists in a strong game, while Kristen McMillan added 14 points and 6 boards. Alanah Pooler led the way with 8 rebounds, and connected on a 3-pointer as well.
U’llyriah Lewis led Prattville with 9 points.
Bucs control play in win
The Hoover boys returned to the state tournament for the first time since 2019, and advanced to the championship game for the first time since 2015 with its 53-41 win over Dothan on Thursday in the Class 7A state semifinals.
Hoover (30-4) led wire to wire. After opening up an early lead, the Bucs never let Dothan gain much traction. The Bucs opened up a double-digit lead early in the second quarter and Dothan was only able to briefly get the deficit back to single digits, for a couple minutes early in the fourth quarter.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” Hoover head coach Scott Ware said. “We started this season out with a goal of where we plan to be. But you’ve got to do things to get here and we’ve got to be 1-0 each game. We’ve been 1-0 30 times now.”
Hoover has managed that 30-4 record against plenty of top-flight competition throughout the season. The Bucs played in one of the toughest areas in the state and took down several top teams in non-area competition as well. Despite no one on the current roster playing at this stage, Ware believes that schedule helped prepare his players for the moment.
“This stuff doesn’t really bother us,” he said. “We try to schedule anybody anywhere. We play as tough a schedule as possible, so when you get to this point, it’s every day for us.”
The Bucs only shot 25% (4-of-16) from 3-point range and allowed 16 offensive rebounds, but they held Dothan to just 29% shooting on the day.
Jarett Fairley led Hoover with 17 points, crediting his teammates for finding him and the team’s effective spacing on offense. Elijah Herron went for 10 points. Salim London had 8 points and 8 rebounds, while DeWayne Brown had 6 points and 9 rebounds. Jonathan Caicedo added 8 points and 5 boards.
Hoover has turned things around after crashing out of the area tournament a year ago, with largely the same roster.
“We remember the feeling from losing last year and we have a way better approach this year,” Brown said.
Thomas Dowd led Dothan with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Mehkai Menefee added 13 points.
Hoover will face Central-Phenix City in the state championship game Saturday at 5:45 p.m. at Legacy Arena. The last time the Bucs were in the final was 2015, when they knocked off Mountain Brook to win the title. They lost in the semifinals in 2017 and 2019.
“Any time you’re playing in the championship game, it’s incredible,” Ware said. “Last time we were here, I was an assistant and it was incredible. It can’t do anything but build confidence in the younger players in your program that you’re a championship-type program.”
Central is coached by former Hoover coach Charles Burkett.
“They still have the same DNA, I’m sure,” Burkett said of facing Hoover and his former assistant, Ware. “Let’s go.”
Jags fall in semis in classic game
Things simply didn’t end up in the Spain Park boys’ favor Thursday afternoon.
In the Jags’ third consecutive trip to the Class 7A state tournament, Spain Park fell to Central-Phenix City 61-58 in a back-and-forth affair.
Spain Park opened up a 26-21 lead at halftime, but a barrage of 3-pointers gave the Red Devils the lead heading into the final quarter. Central buried six 3s in the third to claim a 45-41 lead after three quarters. The teams went back and forth in the fourth. Central stretched its lead to six points, before a 7-0 Jags run put them back out front.
The Jags had a final chance and ran a play to perfection, but a missed 3-pointer from the corner gave the Red Devils the win. Central, coached by former Hoover coach Charles Burkett, will take on Hoover in the state final Saturday at 5:45 p.m.
“Congratulations to Central and Coach Burkett,” Spain Park head coach Chris Laatsch said. “I’ve known coach for a really long time and competed against him…I have a lot of respect for him and he’s been a good friend to me.”
Only one player reached double figures for Central, and that was Jacoby Hill, who poured 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3.
“They made a lot of plays when they had to make plays,” Laatsch said. “They made a few more plays than we did. It leaves you heartbroken and disappointed.”
It was Spain Park’s third straight year advancing to the final four, with the season ending in the semifinals each time.
“What makes this this hard is, I love my boys so much and these three seniors,” Laatsch said of the three players flanking him at the postgame press conference, Hunter Herritt, Zach Gray and Sam Wright. “These guys have given me everything they’ve got for four straight years. I hurt for them because I wanted them to reach their goals because of how much I love and care about them and how much they’ve given to me, my family and our program.”
For much of the game, Central had no answer for Wright, who led the Jags with 25 points. Herritt pulled down a team-high 8 rebounds, while Gray got going and finished with 15 points.
“Getting this far, it sucks to lose here, but making it and the process to get here, it’s fun making it with these guys,” Herritt said.
Laatsch echoed Herritt’s sentiment, saying the journey is what he would remember most about this year’s team.
“This game doesn’t define you,” Laatsch said. “We’ll just keep preaching that same message. We believe basketball is a vehicle to train them for life. Life is full of disappointments too and we have to learn how to handle that. They’ll use this to be better.”
Spain Park finished the season with a 25-7 record.
The Hoover Sun will be on hand Saturday afternoon to cover the boys and girls state championship games. Follow sports editor Kyle Parmley on Twitter (@KyleParmley) for live updates and check hooversun.com following the games for a full recap.