Photo courtesy of Jim Pressler
Spain Park's Yasmine Oliveira won the girls wrestling state tournament on Jan. 22, 2022.
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, go here.
BASKETBALL
The Hoover and Spain Park basketball teams played last Monday in events celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Hoover girls hosted the Ball-N Prep MLK Classic and earned a 73-47 win over Carver-Columbus. Aniya Hubbard scored 17 points to lead the way and Lina Kouchis notched 14 points, behind four 3-pointers.
Hoover’s boys suffered a 74-63 loss to Augusta Christian in the North Oconee MLK Classic in Georgia. The Bucs were led in scoring by Christian Bryant with 18 points on five 3-pointers. Jarett Fairley scored 13 points, Salim London scored 10 and Brodin Grady chipped in 9 points.
Spain Park’s boys lost to Scottsboro 65-47 in the Wallace State MLK Classic. For the Jaguars, Colin Turner scored 18 points, Josh Harrington scored 8 and Chase James finished with 7 points.
Hoover and Spain Park returned to area action on Friday evening.
Hoover hosted Thompson and finished with a split. The Lady Bucs dominated to the tune of a 68-27 victory. Devon Davidson scored a career high 19 points to lead the way, while Alanah Pooler added 11 points in the victory.
Hoover’s boys faltered late in a 54-51 overtime loss to Thompson. DeWayne Brown led all scorers with 19 points in the contest. Brandon Foster had 6 points and 7 rebounds and Bryant finished with 6 points as well. London finished with 5 points, while he and TQ Richardson each tallied 4 assists.
Spain Park was swept on the road at Gadsden City, with the Lady Jags falling 51-33 and the boys team losing 48-41. The boys team was missing several key players from the lineup and was unable to overcome that. Chapman Blevins led the Jags with 13 points. Korbin Long added 10 points and Evan Houser notched 9 points.
Hoover’s girls traveled to Hazel Green on Saturday afternoon in a matchup pitting the top-ranked team in Class 7A and the top 6A team. But the game did not go Hoover’s way, with the Lady Bucs falling 56-32. Hubbard led the team with 12 points in defeat.
WRESTLING
On Saturday, Spain Park’s Yasmine Oliveira capped off a perfect season by winning the Alabama Girls State Championship in the 147-pound weight class. She won by fall over Sarah Edgar of Spanish Fort before knocking off Catholic-Montgomery’s Charlotte Parker by fall in the semifinals. In the final, Oliveira won by fall over Sparkman’s Akerah Artis.
BOWLING
The Spain Park bowling teams qualified for the state tournament by their finishes in the Class 7A North Regional tournament last week in Tuscaloosa. Spain Park’s girls earned the No. 4 seed after play Thursday and took down Hewitt-Trussville 4-0 in the opening round Friday. In the semifinal round, Spain Park fell 4-0 to Sparkman.
The boys made a run to the final. They were the No. 3 seed after the first day of action, and began play Friday with a dominant 4-0 victory over Hartselle in the opening round of bracket play. They kept up that level with a 4-0 win over Sparkman in the semifinals. The final against Vestavia was a classic, with the Rebels edging the Jags by 12 games in the deciding seventh game.
Hoover’s boys, the defending state runner-up, also qualified for the state tournament out of the South Regional. Hoover defeated Mary Montgomery 4-0 in the opening round of bracket play before falling to Baldwin County 4-2 in the semifinals.
The state tournament is this Thursday and Friday at The Alley in Gadsden.
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
The Hoover indoor track and field team competed at the MLK Indoor Track Classic last Monday at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
Hoover had several standout performers, including McKenzie Blackledge (won the 800-meter run in 2:21), Langley Jung (won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 5 inches), DJ Black (won the 60 in 7.04 seconds), Cannon Peters (won the 1,600 in 4:24) and Collin Pate (won pole vault at 15-3). Hoover also won girls relays in 4x200- and 4x400-meter races. The boys 4x400 team won as well.
Blackledge was also third in the 400, Kirsten Leonard was second in pole vault, Elijah Joseph was third in 1,600 and Bradley Shaw was third in the shot put.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnesmedia.com.
