Regionals: Eagles, Lady Hornets advance

The high school basketball playoffs continued on Thursday, with many teams from the Starnes Media coverage area competing at the Northwest and Northeast Regional tournaments at Wallace State Community College and Jacksonville State University, respectively.

Here’s a look at how the local teams performed in those regional semifinal matchups.

Chelsea wins with stingy defense

The Chelsea High School girls basketball team looked like a team familiar with the situation, as the Lady Hornets took down Huffman 39-30 on Thursday morning in the Class 6A Northeast Regional semifinals at Jacksonville State University’s Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Chelsea also defeated Huffman in the playoffs in the same venue last season.

Chelsea (27-5) got out to a five-point lead near the midway point of the second quarter, but Huffman came out of a timeout and went on a quick 7-0 spurt to take a 16-14 lead. Chelsea’s Ashley Washington drained a 3-pointer just before halftime to send the Lady Hornets to the locker room with a 17-16 edge.

“The game plan never changed,” Chelsea head coach Jason Harlow said. “Because of their size, we knew we would have to dig down in the post and play excellent defense. In the second half, we did a great job keeping them off the glass and that was a total team effort.”

Chelsea is a team known for its stingy defense and held Huffman in single digits in every quarter Thursday.

Players like Mary Cartee, Sydney Schwallie, Ashley Washington and a few others played on the playoff stage last year. They contributed as expected. Cartee scored 10 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and showed immense toughness battling through an ankle sprain and bruise under her right eye.

“She’s someone you’ve got to have on the floor,” Harlow said.

Cartee said no bumps or bruises would keep her off the floor for the regional final next week.

Schwallie hit a couple key 3-pointers, Washington went for 7 points and 4 rebounds and Nia Cummings grabbed 5 boards.

“It was exciting,” Schwallie said. “We knew that we were going to have a big group of people to come out and support us.”

But the Lady Hornets also got major contributions from a player new to the raucous regional environment. Freshman Haley Trotter scored 10 points and grabbed 4 boards of her own. She said was “obviously nervous” but calmed down once she checked into the game for the first time.

Chelsea returns to Jacksonville State on Monday to face Oxford in the regional final. 

Oak Mountain boys headed to third straight Elite Eight

The Oak Mountain Eagles boys basketball team is once again one of the last eight teams standing in Class 7A following a 56-37 win over the Austin Black Bears on Thursday.

The Eagles dominated from the opening tip-off against Austin, finding success inside the paint, scoring 20 of their 30 first-half points from inside, while also winning the battle on the boards in the first half. The Eagles never trailed in the game, and led for almost 31 minutes.

The Black Bears had 21 three-point attempts, with just three finding the net, ending the game shooting a total of 29% from the field, while Oak Mountain shot 55% from the field.

Brady Dunn led the way for the Eagles with 18 points, followed by 13 points from Wilder Evers, who also added three assists. Matthew Helberger led Oak Mountain with eight rebounds, with Ryan Giegel picking up five more.

Cam Collins led Austin with 13 points, followed by Jalen Orr with eight points.

In the quarterfinals, the Eagles will face the James Clemens Jets, who defeated Thompson in the round of 16. That game is set for Feb. 22 at 10:45 a.m.

Bob Jones surges in 2nd half to top Oak Mountain girls

The Oak Mountain High School girls basketball team hung tough for a half, but fell short to Bob Jones, 46-25, in the Class 7A Northwest Regional semifinal Thursday afternoon at Wallace State Community College.

After a sluggish start, Bob Jones held a 12-8 edge after a quarter of play. But Oak Mountain turned it on in the second quarter, tying the game at 18-18 at the halftime break on Tamia Threatt’s long 3-pointer at the buzzer. 

The second half showed by Bob Jones is the No. 5 team in 7A, however. Bob Jones held Oak Mountain to just seven points over the final two quarters and pulled away for a convincing victory. 

Raegan Whitaker led Oak Mountain with 11 points and 6 rebounds. Abby Gordon scored 9 points. Emariah Grant led Bob Jones with 16 points in the game.

Oak Mountain advanced to the regional tournament for the third consecutive year and finished with a record of 9-22.

Bob Jones will face Hoover on Tuesday in the regional final. 

Hoover blows past Florence

The Hoover girls basketball team is on a mission to repeat as state champions. Thursday morning’s game against Florence in the Class 7A Northwest Regional semifinal at Wallace State Community College served as simply another step in that quest, as the Lady Buccaneers cruised to a 71-29 win.

Hoover (29-3) scored 21 points in each of the first three quarters before taking the foot off the gas in the final frame.

Aniya Hubbard finished a rebound shy of a double-double, leading Hoover with 14 points and 9 boards in the contest. Reniya Kelly distributed the ball well, going for 13 points and 6 assists. Devon Davidson and Kamryn Lee also notched double figures in the game, finishing with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Layla Etchison had 8 points and 4 rebounds as well. 

Hoover controlled the glass as well, finishing with a 47-22 edge in total rebounds. The Lady Bucs also forced 27 turnovers. 

Hoover returns to Wallace State on Tuesday at 9 a.m. to take on Bob Jones in the regional final. 

Huffman edges Homewood in overtime

The Homewood High School boys basketball team will rue allowing the game-winning basket in the final moments, as the Patriots fell to Huffman 40-38 on Thursday in the Class 6A Northeast Regional semifinal. 

But the Patriots comeback simply to force the extra period was extraordinary. After taking a two-point lead into the fourth quarter, Huffman scored the first 11 points of the final quarter to take a 36-29 lead with 4:31 to play in regulation.

Homewood rallied, though, ending regulation on a 7-0 run, punctuated by a Carter Vail 3-pointer just before the horn to force overtime.

The overtime period was scoreless until 4 seconds remained on the clock, when Huffman’s Christopher Blount banked in a shot to give his team the lead. Homewood had a final look, but Vail’s 3 rimmed out.

“The effort we made was incredible,” Homewood head coach Tim Shepler said. “Getting down 8-0 (to begin the game), we had some jitters. But I told the kids to keep fighting and they did.”

Huffman has been one of the top teams in 6A all season long and didn’t wilt when the Vikings were down at the end of the third or when Homewood made its run at the end of regulation.

“The guys were tested for this,” Huffman head coach Steve Ward said. “This was another game and another adversity. We just had to fight through it.”

Homewood did not get on the scoreboard until the final minute of the first quarter, but after that, Huffman had nary an answer for forward Donte Bacchus. He finished with a game-high 21 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Patriots. He credited teammates setting him up and great back screens for getting him open looks.

One of Huffman’s focal points was slowing down Homewood big man Christian Thompson, who was held to just 2 points but pulled down 7 rebounds. He lauded his team’s ability to rally with its back against the wall.

“We have been in this position,” he said. “We’ve played great competition. This last month, we’ve been playing our best basketball. And we had a lot of support coming from the stands, which kept our morale up.

The 19-13 record Homewood finished with will not stand out, but the Patriots became one of the best teams in 6A over the final five weeks of the season. Shepler said this year’s team improved as much throughout the year as any he has ever coached.

“This team has a special character,” Shepler said. They were buying in and believing they could do some things. That ain’t going to happen if you don’t have a high character team.

Blount led Huffman with 17 points. The Vikings will take on Mountain Brook in the regional final Monday.

Mountain Brook girls fall short

The Mountain Brook High School girls basketball team took the lead for the first time late in the third quarter, but was unable to hang onto it in a 60-47 loss to Oxford in the Class 6A Northeast Regional semifinal Thursday afternoon at Jacksonville State University.

“We knew we were going to have to contain their guard play,” Mountain Brook head coach Sara Price said. “We did a good job down the stretch doing that, but sometimes you fall short.”

Oxford held a steady lead for much of the first three quarters, but Mountain Brook made its push late in the third quarter. The Lady Spartans took their first lead of the contest on a Libby Geisler layup before Oxford tied the game at 32-32 after three quarters.

In the fourth, Mountain Brook scored five straight early in the frame to open up a bit of a lead, but Oxford responded. An 8-0 Lady Jackets run, jumpstarted by a four-point play by Lauren Ellard, gave them the lead for good.

It was the Lady Spartans’ first trip to the regional tournament since 2016. Mountain Brook finished the season with a 25-8 record, a 15-win improvement over a season ago.

“We went 10-16 last year and had one of the biggest turnarounds this year,” Price said. “You’re a top 10 team this season and making it to the sweet 16 is a huge accomplishment.”

Mountain Brook has no seniors this season, meaning the team will remain intact next season and have significant postseason experience under its collective belt.

“It was a great experience,” said MJ Lassiter, who finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks in the game. “We really grew as a team. This experience at JSU is setting us up for a trip back next year.”

Francie Morris led the Spartans with 16 points, while Emma Stearns and Sarah Passink each finished with 7 points. Mountain Brook handled the glass as a whole, outrebounding Oxford 40-21.

Oxford will take on Chelsea in the regional final Monday morning, back at Jacksonville State.

Mountain Brook boys dominate Oxford to reach Elite Eight

The Mountain Brook Spartans boys basketball team faced a 9-7 deficit following the first quarter of their Sweet 16 game against the Oxford Yellow Jackets. It would not last long, as the Spartans outscored Oxford 45 to 16 over the last three quarters to come away with a dominant 52-25 win, reaching the Elite Eight and continuing their quest to defend last year’s championship.

Over the final quarter, the Spartans put the finishing touches on the win, holding Oxford scoreless while adding 17 points of their own.

The Spartans had three scorers in double-digits, led by Ty Davis with 16, Julius Clark with 15 and Kyle Layton with 11. Clark added five rebounds, which tied for the team lead along with Charlie McKimmon. Davis also added three rebounds, two assists and four steals.

Mountain Brook made seven of their 21 three-point attempts, and shot exactly 50% from the field.

Mountain Brook also dominated on the glass, grabbing 28 rebounds to Oxford’s 17. Rylan Houck scored 20 of Oxford’s 25 points. The turnover bug bit the Yellow Jackets, as the Spartans forced 15 turnovers, compared to Mountain Brook’s nine turnovers.

Mountain Brook will next face Huffman in the quarterfinals Feb. 21 at 2:15 p.m.