AHSAA REGIONALS: Autaugaville boys, St. James girls advance
Autaugaville’s Jaden Nixon gets pressure from RC Hatch’s Davarus Raby (3), Samuel Brown (1), Herbert Patton during the Eagles’ win on Monday in the Class 1A Central Regional semifinals. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
Jaden Nixon had a fairly quiet first half for Autaugaville on the offensive end of the court, but the message wasn’t about offense from head coach Darren Golson.
“I don’t get into the offensive part of it,” Golson said. “We talked about defense at halftime. We had to clean it up. It was terrible. We were putting pressure up top and they were going around us. We cleaned that up a little bit, then we started pressuring them later in the game.”
The Eagles extended a six-point lead to 11 points at the end of the third quarter, fighting off a pair of attempts by R.C. Hatch to rally in the second half before subduing the Bobcats 74-63 to advance to the Central Regional finals on Thursday.
Autaugaville (20-6) will face Loachapoka in the regional finals on Thursday at 10:45 a.m. at Garrett Coliseum.
“It feels good (to reach the regional finals),” Nixon said. “This is our last year, so we’ve got to go back and win it.”
Autaugaville advances to the regional finals for the 11th time in the 30-year history of the regionals, but no Autaugaville team has ever earned three consecutive regional championships. The Eagles can do that on Thursday with a win after winning the 1A state championship in 2021 and reaching the semifinals in 2022.
This year’s games were moved from Birmingham’s Bill Harris Arena because of the threat of inclement weather last Thursday. The cancellation of several Thursday games, including the Autaugaville-R.C. Hatch game, brought some changes to the schedule. The Eagles’ game with R.C. Hatch was played at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl, while the championship game with Loachapoka will be played at Garrett Coliseum.
The change of venues didn’t appear to both the Eagles, but the penetration of R.C. Hatch guards was a concern to Golson. In the first quarter, Keonte Lewis and Davarus Raby combined for 10 of the Bobcats’ 16 points, keeping R.C. Hatch even with Autaugaville. In the second quarter, Samuel Brown had eight of his team’s 10 points, keeping the deficit with Autaugaville to a manageable 32-26 at the half.
“We just tightened up on defense at halftime,” Nixon said. “We got in the 2-3 (zone) and just played it.”
Nixon also used the third quarter to show why he’s one of the best small-school players in the state, hitting a pair of baskets, sinking a pair of free throws and dishing out four assists to hold R.C. Hatch at bat after the Bobcats had trimmed the deficit to three points late in the third quarter.
R.C. Hatch turned up the defensive pressure in the effort to pull back into the game, forcing seven Autaugaville turnovers and several missed shots in the second half, but when R.C. Hatch pulled within three points again early in the fourth quarter, Golson switched to better ball handlers.
“Taking care of the basketball, a lot of that is done by the people I put in the game,” Golson said. “The ones we call ‘hands’ can catch the ball and make a pass. The ones that can’t catch the ball and make a pass, I sit them down at certain parts of the game.”
Of course, Nixon stayed in the game and contributed 28 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, followed by Nashaun Palmer with 14 points and Deshawn Hall and Cortez Parker with 10 points each.
Central-Clay County 68, Brew Tech 65
BIRMINGHAM -- Denzel McNeil’s 3-pointer with 1:15 left gave Central a 64-63 lead and Troy Buchanan and Luke Shaddix each sank a pair of free throws to maintain the lead as Central edged Brew Tech 68-65 in the Central Regional 5A semifinals on Monday night.
Central (20-5) will advance to the regional finals on Thursday morning.
Johnathan Williams led Brew Tech with 27 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Micahi Gilchrist with 14 points and eight rebounds and Kevin Honer with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Buchanan led Central with 27 points and 17 rebounds, followed by McNeil with 16 points and Shaddix with 15 points.
Southside-Selma 41, St. James 37
BIRMINGHAM -- St. James missed its final five shots from the field, allowing Southside to rally late and defeat the Trojans 41-37 in the Central Regional 3A semifinals at Bill Harris Arena on Monday.
Southside (10-11) will advance to the finals on Thursday at 2:15 p.m. St. James ends the season at 17-6, having its 12-game winning streak snapped in the process.
The Trojans trailed for much of the first quarter, but surged ahead in the second quarter and took a five-point lead at the half. But St. James, which had shot 40 percent from the field in the first half, would cool off rapidly in the second half, struggling to hit just three field goals in each of the last two quarters.
A minute into the second half, a basket by KJ Jackson gave St. James a seven-point lead but Southside went on an 11-3 run to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter, getting a pair of baskets each from Derick Smith and Roosevelt Towns.
After Jackson’s second basket of the quarter, the Trojans went scoreless the remainder of the quarter except for a 3-pointer by Tabor Offord.
In the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, the Panthers missed three free throws and a pair of shots and had a turnover, allowing St. James to regain the lead. Then the two teams swapped roles as St. James missed their final five shots from the field while Towns hit back-to-back 3-pointers to erase a five-point deficit and put the Panthers in front 38-37.
St. James hit just 4 of 16 shots from behind the arc and struggled to find any offensive rhythm. While KJ Jackson went 7 of 9 from the field and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, the other four St. James’ starters were a combined 7 of 33 from the field.
Towns led Southside with 15 points, followed by Erick Smith with nine points and 12 rebounds.
GIRLS REGIONALS
St. James 71, Southside-Selma 46
BIRMINGHAM -- Ava Card hit a short jumper, KK Hall followed with a 3-pointer and the Trojans were off and running to an easy 71-46 victory over Southside-Selma in the Central Regional 3A semifinals at Bill Harris Arena on Monday night.
St. James (23-9) will play Tuesday’s Trinity-Sumter Central winner in the Central Regional finals on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Southside ends the season at 18-4.
Card had 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Trojans to the regional finals for the third straight year and the seventh time in the 30-year history of the regionals. The Trojans were leading 19-12 when they went on an 11-0 run midway through the second quarter to make it 30-12, using 3-pointers by Hall, Card and Natalie Barton and another basket by Card in the run.
Southside, during the same period, missed all four of its shots, along with a turnover.
Hall finished with 18 points while Barton added nine.
The Trojans held Southside to just 28.1 percent from the floor (16 of 57). Jakeria Robinson led the Panthers with 13 points and four steals.
A.L. Johnson 63, Autaugaville 27
A.L. Johnson jumped on Autaugaville early and cruised to a 63-27 win over the Lady Eagles in the Central Regional 1A semifinals played at the Multiplex on Monday morning.
The game was originally scheduled for Thursday at Birmingham’s Bill Harris Arena, but was moved to another day and location after the threat of inclement weather on Thursday.
A. L. Johnson will play Loachapoka for the Central Regional championship on Thursday at Garrett Coliseum at 9 a.m. The game was originally scheduled for Bill Harris Arena, but the schedule changes that followed moved the game with Montgomery.
Ty’Asia McGhee led A.L. Johnson with 25 points and 12 steals, followed by La’Niyah Anderson with 22 points, nine assists and six steals, including a 10-of-13 performance at the free-throw line. Ke’Lesia Rhone had 10 points.
Autaugaville (13-12) went 0-for-11 from the field in the first quarter, but got 18 points from Makasiah Burns and nine points from Arneshia Williams, the Eagles’ two juniors. Autaugaville has no seniors on the team and returns intact next season after reaching the regionals for the first time since the 2001 team that lost to Notasulga in the 1A state championship game.