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Photo by Erin Nelson.
AHSAA State Semifinal girls 7A
Spain Park’s Sarah Ashlee Barker (10) dribbles the ball guarded by McGill-Toolen’s Sanola Mixon (23) during the Class 7A state semifinal game.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hoover Girls at Thompson Basketball
Hoover’s Aniya Hubbard (5) dribbles the ball guarded by Thompson’s Lindsey Cook (3) during a January game at Thompson High School.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
AHSAA State Semifinal girls 7A
Hoover’s Reniya Kelly (10) shoots for a 3-pointer during the Class 7A state semifinal game against Central-Phenix City in February at the BJCC.
The high school basketball postseason awards circuit featured a heavy dose of representation from Hoover and Spain Park.
The number of individual honors bestowed upon the basketball players comes after a season in which Spain Park’s girls edged out Hoover 47-44 in the Class 7A state championship game, while Spain Park’s boys were a few plays away from making it to the state final four for the first time in four years.
Senior Sarah Ashlee Barker finished her career as the most decorated of the group. After averaging over 23 points and 10 rebounds per game and leading the Lady Jags to their second state championship in her career, she was named Class 7A Player of the Year and then Miss Basketball — given to the overall top player in the state — by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
Barker was named the state player of the year by MaxPreps and was a first-teamer on the ASWA all-state team. She was also honored as the Starnes Publishing All-South Metro Player of the Year for the second straight season. Barker finished her career with over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and has signed to play at the University of Georgia.
She also led the Alabama team to a 70-63 victory in the Alabama-Mississippi Classic. Barker scored 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds to earn MVP honors in the contest. Hoover’s Krystle Johnson coached the Alabama team.
Aniya Hubbard of Hoover was also one of three finalists for the 7A Player of the Year honors and was named to the all-state first team. The sophomore led the Lady Bucs with 15.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during the season. There will always be some question as to how the state title game would have turned out had the Lady Bucs had Hubbard. She sustained a knee injury in the regional final and was unavailable for the final two games of the season. She was still named regional tournament MVP for her efforts.
Also on the girls side, Hoover’s Reniya Kelly was named third team all-state. The freshman averaged 13.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.6 steals per game. She has started for Hoover since her eighth-grade season and holds an offer from several SEC schools already.
Spain Park’s Camille Chase was named honorable mention all-state after a productive season. Chase was injured in the state semifinal game against McGill-Toolen and was unavailable for the state final. She averaged 7.3 points per game on the season as a sophomore.
Hoover guard Jada Knight also picked up a recent honor, being named to the North-South All-Star Game, planned for July in Montgomery. The game pits the top rising seniors across the state against one another, based on their region.
A representative from each school’s boys team also appeared on the all-state team. DJ Fairley was named to the second team after averaging 20.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game for the Bucs.
Spain Park’s Cam Crawford found his way onto the third team. He averaged over 11 points and five rebounds per contest for the Jags. Both Fairley and Crawford were also named to the North-South roster.
