Area crown belongs to Lady Jags

Spain Park won on Thursday and again on Friday in the Class 7A, Area 6 Tournament to clinch a spot in the North Central Regional.

Hewitt-Trussville and Vestavia Hills fought it out twice to decide the second representative from the area, but the Lady Jags sealed their fate early and went on to split a pair with Vestavia on Saturday to take home the area title.

“They have a lot of heart and they fought through the adversity and they’ve stuck together and we’ve improved over the year," Spain Park head coach C.J. Hawkins said after the tournament.

7th-grader Annabelle Widra was named Tournament MVP after her performance over the weekend, which included a complete game shutout against Vestavia Hills in the final game. 

“Unbelievable. She’s a gamer. She wants the ball and she’s competitive," Hawkins said.

Maddie Majors, Julianna Cross, M.K. Tedder, Destini England, Jenna Olszewski, Kynadi Tipler, and Hope Maddox were also named to the All-Tournament team for the Lady Jags.

Spain Park will now turn its attention to the North Central Regional, to be played Friday and Saturday at Tuscaloosa's Sokol Park. The Lady Jags' first matchup is against crosstown foe Hoover, at 4:30 p.m. Friday. Oak Mountain and Vestavia Hills will play each other at the same time.

After that, the winners will face off and the losers will play each other at 7:30 p.m. The team that wins both games on Friday will advance to the state tournament. The two teams that go 1-1 will face off Saturday at 10:30 in a crucial game. The victor will advance, and the other will see its season end.