Lady Patriots advance to Class 7A Final Four on Thursday
Bob Jones will play in the Class 7A Semi-Finals on Thursday at 9 a.m.
Ja’Kaya Smith, a Tulane signee, scored a game-high 25 points in the win over Hillcrest. Photo by Steve Lee
HARVEST – The Alabama High School Athletic Association’s annual Basketball State Tournament is set for this week with one local team making the Final Four and one additional team within inches of being among those cream of the crop teams to win its way to the elite event held at the Jefferson County Civic Center in downtown Birmingham. The lone local representative from the immediate area to play in the Magic City are the Lady Patriots of Bob Jones (24-6) who will play in one of the Class 7A Semi-Finals on Thursday at 9 a.m. versus Auburn.
“I feel our girls are focused and very confident going into the Final Four as they have maintained their belief of being the best and are ready for a championship run,” said head coach Sherell Robertson of the Patriots who have made it back to the Final Four for the first time since 2012.
Bob Jones cracked the spot in the Elite Eight for the fifth straight season with an easy 64-47 victory over Prattville in the Northwest Region Semifinal behind Ella Watts’ gamehigh 20 points while Ja’Kyah Smith added 12. The victory put Bob Jones in the Regional Final against Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa and it didn’t take long for the Lady Patriots to show they were the best team in the Region opening a six-point lead after the first quarter and waltzed to the title after that defeating the team from T-Town 63-49. Smith had 26 points and Watts and Elise McClain scored 11 points each. Bob Jones shot 51-percent from the field and grabbed 37 rebounds, 27 of those on the defensive side. For the tournament, both Smith and Watts were named to the All-Tournament Team with the Most Valuable Player given to Smith who has already signed with Tulane.
“We stayed on our game plan in the latest victory,” added Robertson in her second season as head coach. “We overcame some adversity this season and are ready for the challenge at the Final Four.”
Meanwhile, the Sparkman boys came within inches of advancing to the Final Four. After edging Vestavia Hills 52-51 in the Northeast Regional Semi-Final with Landon Howard scoring 16 and Landen Malone scoring 14, the Senators looked to punch their ticket to the action in Birmingham with a victory over Hoover in the Region Final.
In a true barnburner, with under 10 seconds remaining in a tough game since tipoff, Myles Johnson had a shot which would have put the Senators on top of Hoover by a point, but his shot was missed. He was able to get his own rebound and was fouled in the process. The senior Johnson went to the free throw line to give the Senators the lead. He missed both of his two shots by mere inches and Hoover was able to get to its own free throw line due to Sparkman fouls and sank its two shots to propel the Bucaneers to a 62-59 victory advancing to the Final Four.
Johnson wasn’t the only one to miss shots from the free strip. Sparkman was 5 of 12 hitting just 41-percent for the game while Hoover was hitting 70.8-percent making 17 of 24. The difference in that one stat is staggering, as Hoover (24-10) outscored Sparkman from that line by 12 points sending the Senators to a season- ending record of 22-12. The closing season game featured the scoring talents of Demarious Williams who led the Senators with 17 points, Landen Malone added 12 points and Landon Howard with 11.
Meanwhile, Madison Academy boys were eliminated from a possible trek to the Class 4A Final Four in the finals of the Northeast Regional by Ashville (303) which defeated the Mustangs 86-78 in overtime. After a tied score at the end of regulation, the Mustangs were outscored by Ashville by nine points in the extra period. Madison Academy (23-11) was led by Tahj Phillips’ 29-point performance. Charleston Owen added 18 while Blake Bell put in 15.
Region semi-final results included Bob Jones (14-17) boys’ loss to Thompson 6861, Sparkman girls’ fall to Hoover 79-30 in a game where the Lady Senators scored one point in the fourth quarter, the Jets of James Clemens (21-5) falling to Tuscaloosa County in overtime 75-73 and Madison Academy’s girls shocked by St. John Paul II in a one-point, 60-59, loss.
