Lady Bucs knock off Spain Park behind Langham, Maddox

Hoover started the game on an 8-0 run and Spain Park never led, as the Lady Bucs knocked off the Lady Jags, 51-38, on Friday night at Hoover High School in the lone meeting on the season between the two rivals.

Kendra Langham led the way for the Lady Bucs, with 20 points in the game. She started off strong with seven in the first quarter, as Hoover jumped out to a 14-8 lead.

Jailyn Maddox was solid all night, as well. She knocked in 7-of-9 attempts from the free throw stripe and racked up 18 points.

"Rivals are what rivals are," Hoover head coach Tiffany Frederick said. "We want to carry that throne for that year. This is our only chance to see them unless we see them in the finals."

Hoover puts a big emphasis on rebounding the basketball, and seemed to hold that advantage throughout the game.

"We aim for 38 (in a game)," Frederick said. "We know if we aim for 38, we've got a good chance to win the ballgame."

Eboni Williams nearly reached half of that goal herself, with a monster number of 17 rebounds, to go along with five points and five blocks. 

Claire Holt was the offensive leader for Spain Park, nailing a pair of threes to score the team's first points. She finished with 18 points, 12 in the first half, and knocked down a three at the buzzer to end the third quarter. She hit five shots in total from beyond the arc.

Freshman Skyla Knight drew Spain Park even for the only time in the game early in the third quarter. Her free throw knotted the score at 27-all. The guard ended up with seven points, all from the charity stripe.

After Spain Park tied the game, Maddox scored five straight points for Hoover, as the Lady Bucs took the lead for good.

"(Holt) hurt us in the first half. We went to a denial defense on her, because that's where a lot of their points were coming from. We did a good job covering her (in the second half), getting out there and switching on everything," Frederick said.

Joiya Maddox (Hoover) and Elizabeth Philpot (Spain Park) added five points each for their teams. 

Hoover improves to 18-6 with the win.