Lady Patriots rout Ramsay for area championship

BIRMINGHAM -- That coin flip didn’t matter.

A coin flip determined the host of the Class 6A, Area 10 girls basketball tournament, and Ramsay guessed correctly. But Homewood played as if it were the home team.

The Lady Patriots jumped on Ramsay early and won 62-47 on Friday night at Ramsay High School. The Lady Patriots will now host Center Point in the Class 6A sub-regionals. Center Point lost 36-34 to Clay-Chalkville in the Class 6A, Area 12 tournament final.

“We always like to win the area championship,” said Homewood head coach Kevin Tubbs. “It helps us host again. That’s probably the key.”

The key, indeed. The Lady Patriots have reeled off 37 straight home victories.

“We’re just glad to be at home,” Tubbs said. “We like to play at home. We’re just glad to have that opportunity. Ramsay is a really good team. We kind of jumped on them early and kept the intensity up.”

Most of the first quarter went Ramsay’s way, with the Lady Rams leading 8-6 at the 3:02 mark. That’s when Homewood turned it on, igniting for a 19-0 run that carried all the way to the 1:46 mark in the second quarter. A banked corner 3-pointer by Catlin Carter cut Ramsay’s deficit to 25-11 at that point. The Lady Patriots took a 27-16 lead into halftime.

Homewood cruised for most of the second half, except for a short stretch when Ramsay drilled three consecutive 3-pointers, making it a 50-37 lead. Homewood put the game away from the free throw line from there, sinking eight of its 10 attempts down the stretch.

“Just really, really proud of the girls,” Tubbs said. “They played hard. Hats off to Ramsay. They’re a really good team.”

Ajah Wayne led Homewood with 22 points and seven rebounds. Hannah Barber did a little bit of everything, scoring eight points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out seven assists. Lia Roberson added 11 points.

Homewood’s offense clicked pretty much from the get-go. The Lady Patriots cut through openings and dove for the loose balls. Having Barber and Kalia Cunningham running the offense helps.

“We’re able to do some things that most teams can’t,” Tubbs said.

Tori Webb flirted with a double-double, scoring nine points and pulling down 11 boards for the Lady Patriots.

“Tori is our warrior,” Tubbs said. “They really keyed on her tonight. She really cleans it up for us.”

Jaylyn Sherrod led Ramsay with 12 points. Courtney Lee and Terri Crawford scored six points each for the Lady Rams.