Bucs, Lady Bucs back at state tournament
BIRMINGHAM – The high school basketball state tournament is being contested this week at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.
The final four teams in each classification will play out the state tournament. Four teams in the Starnes Media coverage area will be in action this week, as the Mountain Brook boys, Hoover girls and boys, and Hewitt-Trussville girls are all vying for a state championship.
The Spartans take on Carver-Montgomery on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Class 6A semifinals.
Hoover and Hewitt-Trussville are in Class 7A and will play on Thursday. Hoover’s girls take on Auburn at 9 a.m., Hoover’s boys plays Central-Phenix City at 10:30 a.m., and Hewitt-Trussville’s girls play Prattville at noon.
Mountain Brook will look to win its second Class 6A state title and returns to the state tournament for the second straight year after finishing runner-up to Buckhorn last season.
The Spartans enter the semifinals with a 26-7 record, having won five games in a row. They breezed through the Class 6A, Area 10 tournament by beating Woodlawn and Shades Valley. In the sub-regional round, Mountain Brook got past Parker by 10 points. At the Northeast Regional, Mountain Brook beat Gardendale 62-42 before holding on to beat Homewood 55-49.
Carver defeated Russell County and Park Crossing at the regional tournament to get to Birmingham.
Hoover’s girls have won the last three Class 7A state championships, but this postseason run has had a different look to the one in recent years. The Lady Bucs no longer have the star power of Reniya Kelly and Aniya Hubbard, but they have progressed throughout the season with a young but talented squad.
“All we’ve been hearing all year was about who we lost and how many people we lost. I’ve been saying it all year. You might not know their names, individually, but our program stands on hard work. To me, that’s what this win is, it’s just hard work,” Hoover head coach Krystle Johnson said following the Lady Bucs’ thrilling comeback win over Bob Jones last week in the Northwest Regional final.
Hoover has won five straight entering the semifinals, beating Thompson and Vestavia Hills in the area tournament, before getting past James Clemens and Bob Jones at regionals. In that Bob Jones win, Hoover outscored the Lady Patriots 20-4 in the fourth quarter to storm back and win 58-55.
The Lady Bucs are seeking a fourth straight state championship, and faces an Auburn team they took down in the state semis in 2021.
Hoover’s boys combined with the girls to sweep the 7A titles last season and would love to make that happen once again. The Bucs’ postseason run has not been nearly as dramatic as the girls’, as they have won four playoff games by an average of 18.5 points. Hoover beat Tuscaloosa County and Thompson in the area tournament, then knocked off Austin and Thompson in the Northwest Regional.
The Bucs are 28-3 and winners of eight straight. Their matchup with Central is a rematch of last year’s state championship game. Like the Bucs, who have the same three-headed monster of DeWayne Brown, Salim London and Jarett Fairley, the Red Devils still have Jacoby Hill, one of the top players in the state. Central is coached by former Hoover coach Charles Burkett.
Hewitt-Trussville’s girls are back in the state tournament for the third time in six years. Their previous two trips, they have advanced to the state championship game before falling to Hoover.
The Lady Huskies could very well run into the same situation should they beat Prattville in the semifinals, but they are taking things one step at a time. Prattville is back at the state tournament for the second straight year, after proving no match for Hoover in the semifinals a year ago.
This run will mark the end of a stellar career for Lady Huskies guard Jordan Hunter, who has played on the varsity team since seventh grade and been part of all three final four runs.
After winning the regional last week with a win over Chelsea, she said, “One of my goals was to get over this hump.”
The winners in the semifinals will play in the championship games Saturday. The 6A boys final is set for 2:15 p.m., the 7A girls at 4 p.m. and the 7A boys at 5:45 p.m.