Sparkman defeats James Clemens to claim spot in NW region
Sparkman’s William Crowell drives against James Clemens
First year Sparkman coach Jaime Coggins got another big check off his list of goals coming into the season. His team punched their ticket to the Northwest Regional at Wallace State by downing James Clemens 67-53 Friday night in sub-regional action.
The victory ends a frustrating three-year drought since Sparkman has made it to the regional round in the state basketball playoffs.
“I’m very happy about getting back to the regional because I believe Sparkman belongs at Wallace State and this team has a good shot to keep moving on,” Coggins said after his team knocked off the team coached by his former boss Luther Tiggs.
Coggins said the neutral court “doesn’t bother us one bit. We played in three tournaments away from home and our record was 9-1.” Sparkman is also no stranger to playing infront of big crowds as they made the championship game in the Times Classic.
Sparkman jumped out to a big lead early thanks to a barrage of three point shots. Hot shooting Lamonte Turner and Devin Hankins each had three three-point baskets in the first half to put Sparkman up 39-24 at halftime.
Nine points would be as close as James Clemens could get in the second half. Hankins poured in another nine points in the second half to erase any chance of a comeback. He finished with 20.
“We’re very confident coming off a good win like this,” Hankins said. “I think we will play good down there, we play well in front of big crowds. We’re excited.”
Sparkman will now play back to back games at Wallace State on Wednesday, Feb. 20 with the girls playing Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa at 12 noon and the boys also playing Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa at 1:30 p.m.
Despite the margin of victory, James Clemens had their moments. Alfonso Johnson got a feed from Josh Mitchell and converted a three-point play to make it 58-47. Josh Mitchell hit a three to get the Jets to within nine at 34-45. Tykeem Franklin led James Clemens with 13 points.
Sparkman pulled the starters out with two minutes left and the score 64-47.
“We wanted to be impressive tonight and I felt we were,” Coggins said. “We wanted to play up tempo to speed up the game. The pressure defense was the key for us. We picked up full court, got into passing lanes, and doubled ball screens.”
James Clemens finished the season 16-15.
Hazel Green also advanced to the NW Regional and will play Hoover.
