Bob Jones, MA ready for North Regional Tournament this week
HOOVER – The coaches did their part, cobbling together regular-season schedules that can be considered nothing short of a gauntlet.
Now, it’s up to the players for both Class 7A Bob Jones and 4A Madison Academy to make that months-long grind pay off when they begin play Wednesday in the North Regional Tournament at Hoover’s Finley Center.
And both the Lady Patriots and Lady Mustangs have designs on advancing to the Elite Eight state tournament next week at the Birmingham Cross-Plex.
“I think it definitely helped us,” said Madison Academy senior hitter Sydney Privett, who is among the team’s top three in seven statistical categories according to MaxPreps. “We played a lot of 6A, 7A teams and we played against some really big hitters.’’
Brackets and matchups can be found at www.ahsaa. com.
Bob Jones (47-9), ranked No. 2 in the final Alabama Sports Writers Association rankings, takes on Oak Mountain (15-23) at 2 p.m. The winner advances to play either Huntsville (31-7) or Central-Phenix City (14-11) at 6:30 p.m. in the semifinals of the eightteam tournament.
The championship and third-place matches are on Thursday at 2:45 p.m. Though single elimination, the top four finishers advance to the state tournament.
The opposite bracket has first-round matches of Auburn (31-9)-Vestavia Hills (26-12) and Hoover (37-9)-Austin (25-12).
All classes except 7A feature 16 teams.
The 4A tournament has Curry (31-15)-Plainview (27-22) and Central-Florence (40-13)-Oneonta (8-28) at 11:30 a.m. and West Morgan (36-14)-Alexandria (3813) and Madison Academy (23-18)-Hamilton (25-13) at 12:45. Winners play at 5 p.m.
The opposite bracket has Fayette County (287)-St. John Paul II (19-17), Cherokee County (4013)-East Lawrence (31-9), Asheville (24-25)-Deshler (42-10) and Madison County (34-12)-Cordova (28-18) at 12:45 p.m.
The 4A semifinals are Thursday at 1:30 p.m. with the title and third place matches at 5:15.
Bob Jones has finished as state runner-up to Mc-Gill-Toolen the past two seasons. The Lady Patriots have won two state championships (2008, 2013). Madison Academy has also won two state titles (2004, 2016).
“We’re ready to go,” Privett said. “I think we need to focus on working together and having each other’s back.’’
