Lady Mustangs Head To State Tournament
HANCEVILLE- Then there was one.
The Madison Academy girl’s basketball team is the only local squad to advance to the AHSAA State Tournament in Birmingham among the six teams that played into Regionals. The Lady Mustangs defeated Pleasant Grove 56-42 to win the Class 5A Northwest Regional Tournament and will play in one of the state semi-finals against Ramsay (27-7) at the Legacy Arena as part of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Civic Center in downtown Birmingham. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m., Feb. 27.
Madison Academy won the Class 4A State Championship last season before moving up in classification for the current school year.
“It’s been an interesting season as we had a very tough schedule as there’s so much talent in Class 5A, but that prepared us for the Regional Tournament,” said Alissa Flowers head coach of Madison Academy. “We are confident on who we are and what our team is all about. I was nervous this season. We knew it was going to be tough, but I have an awesome coaching staff with a lot experience between them.”
The Mustangs advanced to the Regional Finals with a 55-41 win over Wenonah (22-10). Against Pleasant Grove (27-7), a second and third quarter scoring advantage made the difference outscoring the opponent 24-7 in those quarters. Destinee McGhee led the Mustangs with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Jaden Langford added 13 and Jasmine Gracie 10. As a team, Madison Academy outrebounded Pleasant Grove 32-15 while hitting on 52-percent of their shots.
“We settled in through the second quarter and had what could be our best third quarter of the season,” said Flowers. “Our girls made plays and we took it to them. We feel good headed into Birmingham as we’re just having fun.”
The biggest shocker in the Regional Tournaments came in Jacksonville where both the Sparkman boys and girls were eliminated. The boys (21-10) lost to Hoover (23-8) 69-54 in round one while the girls advanced to the finals with a 59-35 victory over Tuscaloosa County (17-16) before bowing easily to Hoover (31-1) 73-45. An early 17-2 run by Hoover set the game’s tone and the Lady Senators (27-5) never recovered. Deyana Todd led Sparkman with 17 points but the team overall shot just 29-percent from the field.
James Clemens was in a similar mode losing in the first round in both boys and girls. In boys, James Clemens (18-13) fell to Mountain Brook (28-3) 62-40, while the Lady Jets (13-15) were crushed by Spain Park (26-6) 60-38.
The Madison Academy boys (8-22) were eliminated from post-season play by Wenonah (28-5) 39-36.
