Regional tournament: Complete performance sends Patriots to regional final
JACKSONVILLE – The Class 6A Northeast Regional semifinals took place Friday at Jacksonville State University, with Mountain Brook and Homewood among the teams playing for a spot in the regional final next week.
Spartans pull away in 2nd half
The Mountain Brook boys pulled away in the second half to knock off Gardendale 62-42 in the Class 6A Northeast Regional semifinals.
“I thought our guys did an excellent job of staying the course after the half,” Mountain Brook head coach Tyler Davis said following the game.
Gardendale was able to get some defensive stops early on and got baskets in transition to take an early five-point lead. But Mountain Brook was able to knock down four 3-pointers in the opening quarter to hold a 17-14 lead. Neither team made many shots in the second quarter, and the Spartans held a 28-22 advantage at halftime.
The Spartans built that lead despite no first-half points from leading scorer Ty Davis. He got into foul trouble as well and finished with seven points in the game. Despite that, younger brother Trey Davis stepped up and led Mountain Brook with 22 points in the contest.
The younger Davis merely credited his teammates to getting him open looks for his four 3s.
Even with Ty’s struggles on the day, the Spartan were able to rally together and pull away in a dominant second half.
“It says a lot about the toughness of the team and the development of our players,” Tyler Davis said. “Ty is a great player. But this is a do or die game. How many teams are going to have other guys step up? Our guys are fearless, they play hard and they play to the scout[ing report].”
Carson Romero and John Webb each scored eight points, while Henry Hufham joined Ty Davis with seven points.
This is the 13th consecutive year the Spartans have made it to the regional tournament. Many of those years, they have advanced much further. They will take on the winner between Homewood and Huffman on Tuesday at Jacksonville State in the regional final.
Complete effort lifts Patriots
The Homewood boys secured their first regional final appearance since 2016 with an impressive 60-47 win over Huffman on Friday in the Class 6A Northeast Regional tournament.
“Our guys were ready today. We knew they would be,” Homewood head coach Tim Shepler said following the game.
Homewood got off to a hot start and never let up. The Patriots played like the more comfortable team from the tip, jumping out to a 12-4 lead after a quarter of play.
Huffman head coach Steve Ward credited Shepler and the Patriots for a solid game plan and mentioned early nerves as a factor in the Vikings’ slow start.
Homewood (24-8) was efficient on both sides of the floor all game, shooting 53% for the game and limiting Huffman to just 36% shooting. Much of that defensive game plan revolved around Peyton Wiggins, who struggled to get going but still finished with 14 points to lead his team.
Huffman stayed in it in large part due to Jorden Collins’ four 3-point makes, as he scored 12 points in the game.
“That always happens,” Shepler said of other players stepping up in big games.
Homewood brought the biggest crowd of the day, filling up its dedicated end zone from the floor to the ceiling.
“When you see that sea of red, you can’t help but play hard,” Shepler said. “We played hard, but we took three charges in the first half, and that defensive intensity got us going.”
Homewood’s scoring distribution was a microcosm of what has made the Patriots so strong. Four players reached double figures, led by Kaleb Carson’s 13 points. Jake Stephens scored 12, Jeremiah Gary added 11 and Latham Binkley notched 10.
“We’re hard to prepare for because we’ve got a lot of weapons,” Shepler said.
Homewood and Mountain Brook will face off in the regional final Tuesday at 10:45 a.m. at Jacksonville State. A state final four trip will await the winner.