Lexi Coon.
Hoover's Ariana Zamani swims the breaststroke leg of the 200 individual medley.
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.
FOOTBALL
The Hoover High School football team will oppose McGill-Toolen on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Class 7A state championship game, a rematch from last season. Click here for a preview of the contest.
BASKETBALL
HOOVER
The Hoover High School basketball teams had a busy week and both the boys and girls squads continue to establish their standing as one of the top 7A teams in the state.
The Lady Bucs improved to 8-0 with three wins last week. On Tuesday, they beat McAdory, 63-40, led by Eboni Williams’ 19 points and 10 points from Joiya Maddox.
A strong 6A Ramsay team challenged Hoover on Thursday, but Angela Grant’s go-ahead bucket with 20 seconds to play lifted the Lady Bucs to a 42-41 win. Miya Kimber led them with 10 points.
Hazel Green, another top 6A team, visited Hoover on Friday, and the Lady Bucs came away with a 48-35 victory.
The boys team suffered its first loss of the season but still had a strong week of play. On Tuesday, the Bucs took down McAdory, 79-58. Jamari Blackmon scored 26 points, and Marion Humphrey followed with 18 points. Trey Jemison registered a double-double, scoring 13 points and securing 11 rebounds to go along with six assists and four blocks.
Hoover beat Ramsay, 67-54, on Thursday, behind Blackmon (21 points, nine boards, five assists) and a triple-double from Jemison (19 points, 10 rebounds, 10 blocks). Humphrey added 12 points.
The Bucs challenged themselves by traveling to IMG Academy in Florida on Saturday, suffering a tight 75-71 loss to fall to 9-1 on the season. Blackmon canned nine 3-pointers and scored a whopping 39 points in the contest. Humphrey scored 14.
Hoover travels to Huffman on Tuesday and the boys team heads to Buford, Georgia, on Saturday to play Norcross, a Georgia team Mountain Brook beat 79-62 two weeks ago.
SPAIN PARK
The Spain Park basketball teams had a relatively light week compared to others. The girls team played just once, dominating Pelham, 83-14, on Friday, to improve to 6-1 on the season.
The boys team picked up a 59-58 overtime win over Grissom on Thursday before falling to Pelham, 66-55, on Friday. The Jags now have a 3-6 record.
Both teams play just once this week, with a trip to Ramsay slated for Tuesday.
WRESTLING
The Spain Park wrestling team traveled to Carrollton, Georgia, to compete in the Trojan Wars on Saturday. The Jags opened pool competition with a 52-27 win over Calhoun. In the second match, Spain Park defeated Kennesaw Mountain, 45-33. The Jags suffered a 57-19 loss to Carrollton in their third match, putting them in second place in their pool.
In cross-pool competition, the Jags didn’t fare any better, with losses to Northwest Whitfield, 45-30, and Troup, 48-27.
Leading wrestlers for Spain Park included Jack Rivers (120 pounds), who continued his undefeated season with four pins and one major decision. At 4-1 were Caelan March (126) with two pins and two decisions; Dylan Adair (152) with three pins and a decision; Dash Rush (182) with three pins and a forfeit; and Cameron Young with three pins and a decision.
- Submitted by Jim Pressler
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Over the weekend, Hoover took 11 swimmers to the swimming and diving state meet and had many swimmers drop time in their events. One relay team placed in the top three, too.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Erica Han, Ariana Zamani, Ali Ouellette and Caroline Lawrence, all of whom are freshmen, out touched fourth place by 0.21 seconds and placed third in Class 6A-7A with a time of 1:41.14.
Spain Park’s Ward Lockhart placed second in the boys 200-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 1:43.88, and then became the boys 500-yard freestyle state champion with a time of 4:38.88, a new state record according to the AHSAA. He won the event by more than eight seconds.
The Jags 200-yard freestyle relay team of Lockhart, Evan Trueb, Justin Zhang and Austin Stallworth also out touched Auburn High School by 0.07 seconds to place second with a time of 1:28.83.
Diver Zachary El-Fallah, a Spain Park junior, placed in the top three for boys 1-meter diving with a score of 391.50 in finals.
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
The Hoover track and field teams opened their 2017-18 seasons in resounding fashion on Saturday at the Magic City Invitational. Both the Buccaneers girls and boys left the Birmingham CrossPlex with team titles.
The Hoover girls outpaced runner-up St. Paul’s, 96-89, and the boys steamrolled runner-up Winfield City, 144.5-86.
A number of individuals secured first-place finishes, while many others placed in the top three of their respective events.
For the girls, Michelle Nkoudou won the 60-meter hurdles in 9.02 seconds; Genesis Jones won the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet, 4 inches; and Riley White won the pole vault with a clearance of 11 feet.
Sydney Steely and Ava Weems led the way for the Buccaneers distance squad. Steely placed second in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs, posting times of 2:25 and 5:29. Weems placed fourth in the 1,600 (5:30) and second in the 3,200 (11:45).
The boys, meanwhile, were paced by junior Kyle Smith, who won the triple jump with a leap of 45 feet and took second in the high jump with a clearance of 6-2. J’Marri McCall also stood out at the meet. He won the long jump (22-8.75) and finished third in the 60-meter dash (7.08).
Other event winners included James Courson (pole vault, 15-7), Drew Kilgore (3,200, 10:17) and the 4x200- and 4x400-meter relay teams. Seniors Alex Leary and Joe Leventry also performed well. Leary finished second in the 800 with a time of 1:59, and Leventry finished third in the 1,600 with a time of 4:40.
The Hoover track and field teams will return to action this weekend at the Holiday Invitational, which also will be held at the CrossPlex.
NOTABLE ALUMNI
Baltimore Ravens rookie cornerback Marlon Humphrey, a Hoover alum, secured the second interception of his NFL career on Sunday when he picked off Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Humphrey also made seven tackles in his team’s 44-20 victory. The Ravens are now 7-5 on the season.
VCU sophomore guard Jailyn Maddox, a Hoover alum, scored a career-high 20 points on Wednesday against UNC-Wilmington. Maddox has earned a spot in the Rams starting lineup and is averaging close to 12 points per game.
University of Memphis freshman guard Jamal Johnson poured in 12 points on Saturday in his team’s 83-81 double-overtime victory against Mercer, matching his career high. The performance came two days after Johnson returned to his hometown for the Tigers’ Nov. 30 game against UAB. Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer in a 71-56 defeat.
-- 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.
