The Reset: Bucs football falls, swim and dive advances

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.

FOOTBALL

The Hoover football team fell to Thompson 35-10 last Friday in the Class 7A semifinals. Click here for the recap of the game. The Bucs’ season ends at 12-1.

BASKETBALL

Last Tuesday, the Hoover basketball teams swept Huffman. The Lady Buccaneers cruised to a 58-23 win. The boys had a much tougher time, fighting off a comeback effort to beat the Vikings 63-58 in overtime. TQ Richardson and Salim London had 13 points each to lead the team. Jaylen Carrington joined them in double figures, finishing with 12 points and 4 rebounds. Brodin Grady added 7 points and 6 rebounds and Brandon Foster finished with 9 rebounds to go with 4 points.

Spain Park’s boys traveled to Jacksonville and put forth a second-half comeback to win 59-52. Colin Turner registered a double-double to lead the team, with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Josh Harrington tallied 17 points, knocking down all eight of his free throws. Sam Wright and Zach Gray each scored 6 points.

The Hoover boys earned an impressive 74-59 win at Ramsay on Thursday evening. Richardson led a balanced Bucs’ scoring effort with 17 points and 4 rebounds. DJ Brown added 15 points, 7 rebounds and 6 blocks. Christian Bryant was also in double figures, scoring 14 points on the strength of four 3-pointers. Foster pulled down 12 rebounds and finished with 9 points, London had 8 points and Grady tallied 6 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks in the game.

Spain Park and Oak Mountain faced off with one another Friday, with the Jags coming away with a pair of wins in varsity action. The Lady Jags grabbed their first win of the season in a 43-35 effort. Camille Chase led the way with 19 points for Spain Park and Tamia Threatt scored 13 points for Oak Mountain.

The Spain Park boys outlasted Oak Mountain 62-60 in overtime. Oak Mountain led for the majority of the contest, but the Jags tied the game at the end of regulation on Turner’s buzzer-beating basket. Turner led the way with a career high 27 points and 11 rebounds. Gray had 13, including 5 crucial points in overtime. Harrington had 12 points and 10 assists. Wright had 8 points as well. Wilder Evers led the Eagles effort with 25 points, while Ryan Giegel added 12 points.

Spain Park’s girls fell to McGill-Toolen 52-40 on Saturday evening.

WRESTLING

The Hoover wrestling team swept the Turkey Duals last Saturday. The Bucs swept Carver-Birmingham 72-0, beat Gardendale 45-24 and defeated Vestavia Hill 54-24.

Spain Park competed in the Gulf Coast Clash over the weekend and finished seventh out of 36 teams. William Conlon (182 pounds), Rayhshod Burts (285) and Yasmine Oliveira (145 girls) all won in their respective weight classes. 

BOWLING

The Hoover boys bowling got back on track with a 4-0 sweep of Mortimer Jordan. The team averaged 179 over the four Baker games. Alex Lee led the way with 10 strikes. Last Thursday, the Bucs had another 4-0 sweep with their victory over Pelham, 648-437. They are now 4-1 in area matches on the season.

Hoover’s girls won their first match of the season against Benjamin Russell. They won the Baker series 4-3 with a clutch performance from Raven London in the 10th frame of the final game. On Thursday, they picked up a 4-1 win over Pelham.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

The Hoover swimming and diving team participated in the Central Alabama Invitational on Nov. 9. The boys team took second place and the girls team finished third. Lily Fu won in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke. Victor Song won both the 50 and 100 freestyle. Owen Fuller won in diving as well. On the girls side, Lucy Benoit placed second in diving, Nairika Hamzavy was third, Sydney Lee finished fourth and Tinzley Phifer was sixth.  Thirteen swimmers and five divers qualified for the AHSAA Sectionals Swim and Dive competition on Nov. 19 and 20.

The team then participated in the Central Alabama Sectional Swim and Dive Meet on Nov. 19-20.  In the Class 6A-7A division, the boys team placed third and the girls team placed fourth. Song won in the 100-yard free. Lukas Fu won in the 200 individual medley the 100 back. The boys relay team, Leo Song, Victor Song, Ken Ning, and Lukas Fu, won the 400 freestyle relay. In girls diving, Benoit took second place, Hamzavy took fourth, Pfifer took fifth and Lee took sixth. In boys diving, Owen Fuller won. Fifteen athletes from the Hoover swim and dive team qualified to compete at the state meet Dec. 3-4 in Auburn.

— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnesmedia.com.