The Reset: Indoor sweeps, basketball and wrestling finish regular season
Over the course of the year, the Hoover Sun will keep you up to date on the various Hoover and Spain Park high school athletic teams. For previous weekly updates, click here.
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
The Hoover High School indoor track and field teams were dominant over the weekend at the AHSAA State Indoor Track and Field Championships. Click here to read about the Bucs' sweep of Class 7A state titles.
BASKETBALL
Hoover
The Hoover High School basketball teams finished their regular seasons on Friday, Feb. 2, when they hosted crosstown rival Spain Park. The boys game ended up as expected, with the Bucs taking a 62-40 win, but after the Jags took a 24-18 halftime lead. Hoover dominated the third quarter after a sluggish start to the game, outscoring Spain Park 23-2 in the frame and holding on for the win. In the win, Marion Humphrey and Jamari Blackmon each scored 17 points, and Trey Jemison added 14.
The Lady Bucs game featured a rematch of last year’s Class 7A state final. Much like last year, the Lady Bucs prevailed in overtime, 58-53. Also in a repeat of last year’s game, Spain Park’s Sarah Ashlee Barker hit a shot at the end of regulation to send the game to the extra period. In the game, Joiya Maddox led the Lady Bucs with 11 points, followed by 10 from Angela Grant.
The boys finished the regular season with a 24-3 record, and the girls with a 27-1 mark. Both teams will host the Class 7A, Area 5 tournaments this week. The Lady Bucs will face Vestavia Hills on Wednesday at 3 p.m., with the title game at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The boys team plays Thompson at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, with the title game at 7 p.m. Friday.
Spain Park
The Spain Park High School basketball teams visited Vestavia Hills on Tuesday night, Jan. 30. The Lady Jags dominated, 69-23, while the boys team fell on a shot at the buzzer, 53-51.
Spain Park rounded out the regular season on Friday with a trip to crosstown rival Hoover. The boys jumped out to a 24-18 halftime lead over the Bucs, but couldn’t sustain it in a 62-40 loss. The Bucs outscored the Jags 23-2 in the third quarter to pull away. DayQuan Williams led the Jags with 16 points.
The Lady Jags game was a rematch from last year’s Class 7A state final. Much like last year, the Lady Bucs prevailed in overtime, 58-53. Also in a repeat of last year’s game, Spain Park’s Sarah Ashlee Barker hit a shot at the end of regulation to send the game to the extra period. Claire Holt led the Jags with 22 points. Ahrielle Parks scored 13 points and Barker added 12.
The boys team finished the regular season with a 5-19 record, while the Lady Jags finished 25-6. The girls will host the Class 7A, Area 6 tournament and will play Oak Mountain on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 6:30 p.m., with the championship game set for 6 p.m. on Friday.
The boys face Mountain Brook on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., with the title game at 7 p.m. Saturday.
WRESTLING
Hoover
The Hoover High School wrestling team completed the regular season with a pair of matches last week. The Bucs fell to Vestavia Hills in the eighth tiebreaker on Tuesday, Jan. 30, after a final score of 32-32 was reached. Individual winners for Hoover in that match were Nick Smith (106 pounds), Carson Frank (113), Riley Huff (120), Alex Mason (126), Larry Wallace (132), Jacob Brady (145) and Bryce Carnes (220).
On Wednesday, the Bucs took down Oak Mountain, 47-20. Smith (106), Frank (113), Mason (126), Wallace (132), Brady (145), Josh Reynolds (152), Dawson Rye (182), Kashuan Fails (195) and Gary Larson (285) each picked up wins for Hoover.
The Bucs will compete at the sectional tournament this weekend to qualify as many individuals as possible for the state tournament.
Spain Park
On Thursday night, Spain Park hosted Mountain Brook and Oxford in a tri-match. The Jags honored seniors Dylan Adair, Gaven Pudlik and Emmanuel Thuo. The seniors combined to win five of their six matches on the night. Thuo (126 pounds) had a decision and a forfeit. Pudlik (138) had a major decision and a decision, and Adair (145) was 1-1 with a major decision.
In the first match, the Jags lost to Mountain Brook, 49-22. For Mountain Brook, George McMinn (132), Ned Mitchell (152), Banks Walston (160), Jack Higgins (182), Hayden McDonald (195) and Trey Gory (285) had pins. Gray Ortis (106) had a tech fall, while and John Pankey (120) and John McKimmon (170) had major decisions. For the Jags, Jake Harrison (152) had the lone pin.
The Jags came back in the final round to defeat Oxford, 43-21. Jack Hudson (160), Gage Hughes (170) and Jaxon Bast (220) had pins. For Oxford, Kaleb Shelton (106) and Landon Burrage (120) had pins.
- Submitted by Jim Pressler
-- What did we miss? What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.