6A SEMIS: Park Crossing girls, boys eliminated from title contention
Park Crossing’s Dee Smith guards Tucker Gambrill of Cullman in the Ciass 6A boys semifinals at Legacy Arena. (AHSAA/Marvin Gentry)
COMBINED REPORTS
BIRMINGHAM -- Hazel Green didn’t look particularly impressive on Wednesday, but the Trojans got off to a quick start and methodically rolled past Park Crossing 74-54 in the girls 6A semifinals at Legacy Arena.
“I always tell the girls, any win is a good win but they would tell you we did not play great today,” Hazel Green coach Tim Miller said. “We just had a couple players that didn’t play well. We had a couple of girls out there that looked shell shocked and like they had never been there before.”
Yet, the Trojans got off to a 14-1 lead over the Thunderbirds in the first quarter with a pair of Nyla Collier 3 pointers and three baskets from Samiya Steele.
Park Crossing, making its first-ever appearance in the state tournament, struggled in the first half as Hazel Green built an 18-point lead, but trimmed the deficit in the third quarter and pulled within six points before a 15-8 run by the Trojans put the defending champions back in control.
“We were excited and we were glad to be here,” Park Crossing coach Freeah Smith said. “We had a great group of girls. I wish it would have ended differently, but we had a great run. As this comes to an end, it hurts, but I love them and I appreciate what they did. I am proud of them.”
The east Montgomery school, now in its eighth year of existence, had never had a basketball program advance past the regional round until both the girls’ and boys’ programs did it this year.
Alexis Andrews led Park Crossing (30-5) with 24 points, hitting 11 of 12 free-throw attempts to offset a poor shooting performance from the field. Saniya Jackson added 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists, followed by Kamore Smith with 11 points.
Steele had 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Hazel Green (34-0), followed by Collier with 18 points after hitting four of five attempts from the 3-point arc. Leah Brooks added 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Hazel Green will be shooting for its fifth consecutive 6A state championship against Oxford on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
PCHS boys eliminated
Park Crossing suffered with 26 turnovers in a 71-55 loss to Cullman in the program’s maiden voyage to the AHSAA State Finals on Wednesday.
Despite having three players score in double figures, the Thunderbirds could not figure out the Bearcats defense, although they held the lead until Cullman’s Max Gambrill hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first half. A 13-0 run by the Bearcats followed.
“I tell our guys that the first three minutes of the second half are the most important of the game,” PCHS coach Courtney Ward said. “Today, it was just something we didn’t conquer. We didn’t knock down the shots we normally do. We turned the ball over more than we normally do. For whatever reason, we just couldn’t’ capture it and get on top of it.”
Aaron Brown led the T’Birds (27-5) with 16 points, Deontavious Smith had 12 and Jayden Scott had 11. Smith also had eight assists and four steals.
Garrison Sharpe led all scorers with 20 points to go along with five assists and three steals.
Cullman moves to the 6A championship game against Huffman at 2:15 p.m. Saturday.