Photo courtesy of Jim Pressler
Spain Park wrestlers, from left to right, Jaxon Bast, Caelan March, Jack Rivers, Dylan Adair, Emmanuel Thuo, Cameron Young
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.
BASKETBALL
Hoover
The Hoover High School boys and girls basketball teams each hosted — and won — the Big Orange Classic over the Christmas break, as both teams continued to play well heading into 2018.
The boys team won all four games in its Big Orange Classic, Dec. 27-29. The Bucs took down Central Gwinnett (Georgia), 82-63, to open the tournament. The following day, they routed Andalusia, 62-39, to advance to the semifinals later that evening. There, the Bucs beat Fairfield, 51-37. They avenged an earlier loss to Wenonah by beating the Dragons 58-48 in the final, to win the tournament and improve to 15-3 overall.
The girls won all three games they played in the Big Orange Classic and won the Rock Holiday Classic in Windermere, Florida, last week, as the Lady Bucs continue to back up their No. 1 ranking and are now 18-0 on the year.
In the Big Orange Classic, they knocked off Bessemer City (79-28), Midfield (67-31) and Homewood (72-53) to take the title running away. The tournament in Windermere proved tougher, but they still managed to notch three more wins.
The Lady Bucs beat Walnut Hills of Ohio (47-33), Chartiers-Houston of Pennsylvania (63-21) and Butler of Kentucky (41-31) to take home their second piece of hardware in as many weeks.
The boys team plays at Mountain Brook on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the regular season. The Lady Bucs will return to action next week.
Spain Park
The Spain Park High School basketball teams took part in holiday action, with the boys playing four games over the break and the girls playing in a pair of tournaments.
The Lady Jags improved to 16-3 on the year and are on an eight-game winning streak by way of winning the Lady Jag Classic and the Decatur Orthopaedic Clinic Classic.
On Dec. 20, Spain Park fell to Ramsay, 48-44, for the third time this season in the Steel City Invitational girls showcase game. Outside of the Rams, the Lady Jags have rolled through each opponent. In the Lady Jag Classic, their home tournament, the Lady Jags defeated Pleasant Grove (76-27), Carver-Birmingham (62-40), Wenonah (59-44) and LeFlore (60-43) to claim the title.
Spain Park went to Decatur Dec. 27-29 and took down Buckhorn (58-23), Brewer (65-52), Madison Academy (70-55) and Austin (63-48) to claim another title.
The boys team fell to Grissom, 78-49, on Dec. 22, before putting on a solid showing at Homewood’s Metro Tournament. The Jags beat Bibb County, 63-33, but suffered a tough 51-48 loss to Woodlawn in the semifinals. In their final game, the Jags knocked off Hartselle, 56-55, to improve to 5-10 on the season.
This week, both teams host Homewood on Friday night.
WRESTLING
Last week, the Spain Park High School wrestling team competed in the Heart of Dixie Classic at Vestavia Hills. Vestavia won the tournament, with Central-Phenix City placing second and the Jags seventh.
Medalists for the Jags were:
- Jack Rivers (120 pounds), second with six pins.
- Emmanuel Thuo (126), second with a major decision, an injury default and three decisions.
- Jaxon Bast (220), third with six pins.
- Cameron Young (285), third with two pins, a tech fall and three decisions.
- Caelan March (132), fourth with four pins and one decision.
- Dylan Adair (145), sixth with two pins and a medical forfeit.
- 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.
