AISA CLASS AA GIRLS: Hooper falls, Edgewood advances to semis
Hooper’s Kaylee Midkiff is surrounded by Sparta Academy defenders during the Lady Colts’ loss on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
Nothing beats experience.
The Hooper Academy girls found out the hard way as the experienced Sparta Academy Warriors turned mistakes by the Colts into points at the other end of the floor on the way to a 53-29 win in the Alabama Independent School Association’s Class AA quarterfinals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Wednesday afternoon.
Sparta Academy (22-3) will play Southern Academy in the AA semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. Hooper ends the season at 14-12.
“When you play Sparta and (veteran head coach) Russ Brown, you know what you’re going to get,” Hooper Academy coach Buzz Phillips said. “This year, it so happened they have about seven seniors. I started three ninth graders, a 10th grader and an 11th grader that have been starting since the second half of the season. The maturity factor that comes in, in basketball, is big.
“Russ works his team 12 months a year and they’ve got a good ballclub. I wouldn’t doubt that they win this thing. Two years ago, we won two ballgames. Last year, when COVID hit, we lost 11 games on the schedule and ended up playing two. This year, we won 14. We’re matured and people have gotten better. All that makes a good basketball team.”
And while there is a lot to be said for Hooper’s advance to the state tournament, their inexperience on the private school organization’s biggest stage was evident almost from the outset. Hooper had the heart and the talent, but the Warriors knew how to create turnovers with the press, how to box out on rebounds and how to sink the open shots, slowly but surely pulling away from the Colts with each passing minute in the game.
Hooper kept pace through the first four minutes but trailed by eight points (15-7) by the end of the first quarter, by nine (27-18) at the half and by 15 (42-27) by the end of the third quarter. The Colts kept fighting, but defensively couldn’t pressure an experienced Sparta team and offensively couldn’t rally with perimeter shooting.
Mary Trainham Brock hit three 3 pointers in the fourth quarter to extend the Warrior lead and finish with a game-high 13 points. Hannah Salter added 11 points, followed by Kaitlyn Johnson with 10.
Kaylee Midkiff led Hooper with six points.
“We want to be this team that beat us, next year,” Phillips said. “The only way we can do it is to continue what we’re doing. How important was it to get here? Look, this is the first time we’ve been in the Elite Eight since 2015. This is giganic for this program.”
Edgewood’s Madison Martin looks to pass in the Wildcats’ win over rival Lowndes Academy on Wednesday. (Dylan Hurst)
Edgewood Academy 53, Lowndes Academy 43
The Edgewood Academy girls are back in the Alabama Independent School Association’s AA final four for the first time since 1990 after the Wildcats used high offensive play and good rebounding to beat out Lowndes Academy 53-43 on Wednesday night at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
The Wildcats will face South Choctaw in the AA semifinals on Friday at 3 p.m.
The first quarter of the game was a defensive struggle with the Wildcats holding a slim 12-8 advantage. Both teams began to find their offensive rhythm in the second quarter and Edgewood took a 26-23 lead into the locker room at the half.
By the end of the third quarter, the Rebels had caught the Wildcats and held a one-point lead, 33-32. A crucial point in the game occurred after a timeout was called by the Wildcats in the fourth quarter after the Rebels had regained a moderate lead early in the quarter.
“I told them at that timeout to just lock in and that the game isn’t over yet,” Edgewood coach Jason Fisher said. “Stay laser-focused, keep playing, keep fighting, and we were going to find out which team wanted it more. And in the end, I believe we wanted it more.”
Coach Fisher talked about how the key to his team’s success is their consistency in play and planning, and how he and his staff aren’t changing anything up in preparation for the coming games.
“We are going to take it one game at a time, and we’re going to play like we have all year,” said Fisher. “At this point, a lot of other coaches try to change things, but I told them, what made us successful this year and got us to where we’re at now is not by changing everything.”
Only four players scored points for Edgewood, but that was all they needed to take a 10-point win. Jaylyn Strength led the Wildcats in scoring with 25 points. Lindsey Brown scored 13 points, Kennedy Mensch scored 11 points, and Madison Martin added four points.
For the Rebels, Haley Briggs led the team in scoring with 14 points. Abigail Glushick scored 11 points, and Molly Powell scored nine points. Harley Hooper scored six points and Carolyn Jean Forest added two points.
Lowndes Academy coach Matt Marshall said the game turned in Edgewood’s favor on the strength of the Wildcats’ rebounding ability.
“I think more than anything we had some shots not fall, and (Edgewood) had some that started falling,” said Marshall. “I just told them the big thing that happened was that every time we were winning the rebounding battles, we were taking the lead, and every time (Edgewood) was winning the rebounding battles, they were taking the lead.”
After falling just short in the finals last year, the Rebels had high expectations for the 2022 season, but Marshall had high praise for both teams after the game.
“I am super proud of my girls,” he said. “We had a good game plan and I thought my girls executed it very well. And hats off to Edgewood. They took it more than we lost it.”
South Choctaw Academy 38, Lakeside 37
The Chiefs battled back from a double-digit deficit and had a chance to win the game in the final seconds only to come up short in the loss to the Lady Rebels Wednesday in the AISA Class AA quarterfinals at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex.
With five seconds remaining, the Chiefs had forced a turnover in back court, which set up a chance for a game-winning shot. But Jayden Green’s jumper came up short on the final attempt, giving South Choctaw a berth in the semifinals.
Emma Kate Williams led the Rebels with 17 points. Chloe Helms finished with 14 points for Lakeside.
South Choctaw will face Edgewood Academy on Friday.
Southern Academy 49, Chambers Academy 45 (OT)
Lida Lewis hit a 3 pointer in the overtime period and Madeline Chapman and Trinity Wilkinson came up with clutch baskets in overtime as the Cougars rallied to defeat Chambers in a thrilling battle on Wednesday morning in the AA quarterfinals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
Southern will face Sparta Academy in the AA semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Multiplex.
Chambers took n 8-4 lead over the Cougars in a sluggish first quarter, but both teams picked up the pace through the remainder of the game, with Chapman’s basket tying the game at 39-39 and sending it into overtime.
Jordan James led Southern with 12 points, followed by Lewis with 11 and Chapman and Wilkinson with nine points each.
Bailey Allen had 18 points for Chambers, with Claire Allen adding nine and Lexi Smith scoring eight.