Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hoover’s Layla Etchison (2) shoots for 3-points in a home game against Hewitt-Trussville on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. Photo by Erin Nelson.
The new year is here, and here's a quick look back at the last few weeks in Hoover and Spain Park high school sports.
BASKETBALL
The Hoover girls basketball team enters the new year as one of the top teams in the state once again. Since Dec. 12, the Lady Bucs have knocked off Northridge and Hewitt-Trussville in regular season action and swept the Big Orange Classic with wins over Mortimer Jordan, Archer (Georgia) and River Ridge (Georgia). Last week, Hoover knocked off Minor and Carver (Georgia) before falling to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 31-30 to cap off the Ball-N Prep Showcase at Hazel Green. The Lady Bucs are now 19-1 on the season.
Spain Park’s girls are 1-19 on the year. In recent weeks, the Lady Jags have played Pell City, Mountain Brook and Hueytown in regular season action. They also hosted the Jaguar Classic, in which they played Signal Mountain (Tennessee), Shades Valley and Midfield. Spain Park then traveled to Panama City, Florida, to play in the Marlin Classic. There, the Lady Jags faced South Gibson County (Tennessee), Brewbaker Tech and Poplar Springs (Florida).
Hoover enters 2023 on a 12-game winning streak. Three weeks, ago, the Bucs knocked off Hewitt-Trussville, Northridge and McGill-Toolen in regular season action. On Dec. 17, Hoover beat South Forsyth (Georgia) in the War Lodge Invitational, before heading to Orlando, Florida. In Florida, the Bucs won the KSA Events Classic, notching wins over St. Joseph Regional (New Jersey), Herriman (Utah) and Orem (Utah). Last week, the Bucs won the Big Orange Classic with wins over Highland Home, Benjamin Russell and Helena.
Spain Park’s boys have had a great season to date. To wrap up 2022, the Jags beat Hueytown on Dec. 16, then won a couple games in the Don Webb Classic over Franklin County (Tennessee) and Athens. At the Smoky Mountain Winter Classic in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Spain Park beat Marshall County (Kentucky) and Warren East (Kentucky), before losing to Great Crossing (Kentucky).
WRESTLING
Over the last few weeks, the Hoover wrestling team fell to Hewitt-Trussville 46-28, finished third in the Beech Invitational in Tennessee, and finished fourth in the Scott Rohrer Invitational hosted at Hoover.
Spain Park finished fourth at the Trey Culotta Invitational in Louisiana and placed third in the Scott Rohrer Invitational.
