Photo by Erin Nelson
The Spain Park student section cheers for the Jags during the second half of the AHSAA Class 7A boys Northeast Regional Semifinal game against Sparkman at Pete Matthews Coliseum on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. The Jags defeated Sparkman 59-46 to advance to the Northeast Regional Final on Feb. 21. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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
Last Wednesday, the Spain Park boys basketball team won in the Class 7A Northeast Regional semifinals with a 59-46 win over Huntsville. Click here for a full recap of the contest.
Hoover’s girls had no trouble blowing past Florence on Thursday morning in the 7A Northwest Regional semifinal. Click here for the recap of the Lady Bucs’ 71-29 thrashing.
Both teams play in the regional final this week. Spain Park plays Huntsville at 10:45 a.m. Monday at Jacksonville State, while Hoover faces off against Bob Jones at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Wallace State.
WRESTLING
The Hoover and Spain Park wrestling teams wrapped up their seasons at the state tournament in Huntsville over the weekend.
Hoover finished eighth in the Class 7A division, accumulating 43 points. Spain Park finished in a tie for ninth with 35 points.
Jack Lamey Jr. won an individual state title for Hoover, winning the 182-pound class. He defeated Dothan’s Garrett Holland, Smiths Station’s Lance Peterson and Bob Jones’ Evan Pippin to secure the crown.
Broc Metcalf finished third at 138 pounds, beating Vestavia Hills’ Andrew Sullivan in the third-place match.
Jake Thompson (106), Landon Sanders (113), Ty Sisson (120), Baylor Hardy (126), Vincent Aspito (132), Ian Addison (145), Liam Harrell (152), Keith Christein (160) and Chaleb Powell (285) also competed at state for Hoover.
Bradley Williams led Spain Park with a second-place finish in the 126-pound division. He knocked off Huntsville’s Joseph Sowell and Hoover’s Baylor Hardy to reach the final, where he fell to Thompson’s Yanni Vines.
William Conlon finished third in the 182 bracket, beating Thompson’s Nathan Black in the third-place match.
Brad Cummings (138), Jackson Mitchell (170) and Rayshod Burts (285) also wrestled for the Jags.
BASEBALL
The Hoover and Spain Park baseball teams opened their seasons last week.
Hoover dropped its game Friday before winning two on Saturday. The Buccaneers fell to Hartselle 7-3 in their opener. Tyler Wilson pitched well despite the loss, going 6 innings and allowing 4 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits.
On Saturday, Hoover began the day with a 7-1 win over Oxford. Six Hoover players tallied a single RBI, with RJ Hamilton, Carter Milliron, Andrew Batson, Andrew Pitts, Luke McNeill and Hess Fridley all chipping in. Cade Carr and Milliron finished with 2 hits apiece. Jack Campbell was stellar on the mound, allowing 1 hit and striking out 9 in 5 scoreless innings. Colin Rengering allowed a run over the final 2 innings, while striking out 4.
In a 2-1 win over Cullman, Brewer Smith earned the win by going 5 innings and allowing a single run on 4 hits. Marcus Locklear threw a scoreless frame and Samuel Schmidt got the save with a hitless inning. Carr and Lucas Steele each finished with a double and an RBI in the game.
Spain Park opened its season Saturday with a 13-5 blowout of Tuscaloosa County. Ryan Cole led the Jaguars offense, hitting a home run and driving in 5 runs. Evan Smallwood had a couple hits and 2 RBIs, while Jacob Tobias and Clay Spencer each knocked in a run as well. Michael Glick and Cole Edwards each tallied two hits. Lucas Thornton allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 4 innings of work.
SOFTBALL
The Spain Park softball team began its season over the weekend at the Thompson President’s Day round robin event.
On Friday, Spain Park finished in a 1-1 tie with Helena and beat Chelsea 3-0. Katherine Brown pitched well in the Helena game, allowing just a run on 5 hits in 5 innings. In the Chelsea win, Maggie Daniel hit her first homer of the season, while Katie Flannery went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored. Ella Reed pitched 4 scoreless innings, surrendering 1 hit and striking out 3.
The Jags picked up two wins Saturday, blowing past Calera 6-0 and beating Brookwood 8-7 in walk-off fashion. Daniel hit another homer in the Calera win, driving in a pair of runs. Reed pitched great again, allowing 1 hit and striking out 6 in 4 innings of work. She also hit a homer to boost the offense. Blakley Watts had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.
In the Brookwood game, Emma Jolley tallied the walk-off hit to lift Spain Park to the win. Flannery also went 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
SOCCER
Last Tuesday, the Hoover boys soccer team knocked off Pinson Valley 3-0. Matthew Kincaid scored the first goal of the game in the seventh minute, assisted by Reese Kearney. Henry Patterson scored the second goal in the 51st minute, assisted by Reeves Knox. In the 53rd minute, Patterson scored the third goal on a free kick. Trey Rayfield and Alex Noles each made a save in goal for Hoover.
Spain Park’s boys fell 2-0 to John Carroll on Tuesday.
In Friday night action, Hoover’s boys fell to Vestavia Hills 2-1, Spain Park’s girls beat Columbus 3-2 and lost 1-0 to Homewood, and Hoover’s girls fell to Hewitt-Trussville 4-1.
Spain Park was swept by Oak Mountain on Saturday, the boys falling 8-0 and the girls losing 2-1.
TENNIS
In the first section match of the season, the Hoover boys tennis team came out with a 9-0 win against Gadsden City on Monday evening. Starting with doubles, all boys kept their opponents to two games or fewer, including exhibition players Sam Nichols and Asim Virani, and No. 1 doubles players Isaac Hwangpo and Gavin Patton, who won their match 8-0. The clean sweeps continued into singles, where No. 1 Samuel Sellers, No. 2 Hwangpo, No. 5 Jackson Plugge and No. 6 Krish Jaikumar all won 8-0. Other singles winners included No. 3 Patton and No. 4 Anthony Hill (filling in for Matthew Hajazin).
Hoover’s girls dominated as well in a clean sweep. Starting with doubles matches, every doubles team finished with impressive wins against their opponents, including exhibition players Nia Settles and Shalyn Allen. The wins continued into singles, where No. 3 Kristina Hwangpo, No. 4 Abby Gobbels, No. 5 Sowmya Suresh and No. 6 Rachel Yuan all beat their opponents 8-0. Misha Patel won her exhibition match 8-0 as well, while No. 1 Laci Pyron and No. 2 Chinonye Mbanugo cleaned up their singles matches with strong scores.
Hoover’s tennis teams were victorious again Wednesday, beating Briarwood. The girls won 8-1 and the boys pulled off a clean sweep with a 9-0 win. Starting with doubles, both Mbanugo and Gobbels, and Settles and Patel secured the first two wins for the match. The evening then went into singlesm where every girl won, including Hwangpo, Gobbels and Settles all winning 8-0. Other singles winners were Pyron, Mbanugo and Suresh.
The boys started with doubles, with each team keeping its opponent to a point or less. Singles winners included Patton, Plugge, Krish Jaikumar, Hill, Hill and Asim Virani.
GOLF
The Spain Park girls golf team opened the season by winning the Auburn Invitational. Taylor Trible shot a 71 to finish as the individual runner-up. Emma Fortier shot a 76 as well. The Hoover girls finished sixth in the tournament.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnesmedia.com.
