SPRING UPDATE: Autaugaville boys move into Class 1A finals; Tuesday's FCA Tourney washed out
COMBINED REPORTS
BIRMINGHAM -- Autaugaville survived long stretches without its best player on the floor and weathered a fourth-quarter rally by Decatur Heritage to defeat the Eagles 62-48 at Bill Harris Arena on Tuesday afternoon.
Autaugaville (30-0), the state’s only undefeated team, advanced to the 1A state championship game and will face Belgreen (26-2) on Friday at Bill Harris Arena at 4:30 p.m.
“Their length is going to be a problem for anybody that plays them and their athleticism,” Decatur Heritage coach Jason Marshall said. “We never could get in any kind of offensive rhythm. We were scattered and turned the ball over way too many times.”
Autaugaville will be chasing its fourth state title and first since beating St. Jude in 1995. The Eagles are 4-2 in championship games, having lost to Notasulga at Auburn’s Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in 1987 and to J.F. Shields at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in 2005, head coach Darren Golson’s first year as Autaugaville’s head coach.
“The game went as expected,” Golson said. “We knew it would be a hard-fought game, we knew they had great shooters. What helped us was getting the lead early.”
On Tuesday, Autaugaville jumped out to a quick 19-9 lead over Decatur Heritage despite two personal fouls on the team’s leading scorer, Dewaun Stubbs. Stubbs picked up his third foul with 5:20 remaining in the first half and his team holding a 26-12 advantage.
“We executed in the first half very well,” Stubbs said. “We did what he told us to do. We just went out there and played ball.”
He returned in the second half, but picked up a fourth personal foul with 5:18 remaining in the game and went to the bench with a 16-point lead.
“He’s our anchor,” Golson said. “It changes our game because some of the offenses we want to run, we can’t run. We had to put in different personnel because there are certain things we can run without him. The defense changes because he anchors the back for us. We want to overextend, but we can’t overextend as much (without him in the game).”
Stubbs returned to play the final three minutes, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and four steals, leading Autaugaville in all four categories in 25 minutes of action.
Antonio Hardy added 11 points, followed by Jaden Nixon and Makenzie Bristow-Matthews with 10 points each.
Brayden Kyle had 13 points, nine rebounds and four steals to lead Decatur Heritage (20-8), followed by Clayton Smith with 13 points.
FCA Tuesday schedule washed out
All six games schedule in the 28th FCA Jason Armstrong Memorial Tournament were rained out on Tuesday causing a scramble of the schedule on Wednesday.
Games at Riverwalk on Wednesday include:
Alabama Christian vs. Trinity Presbyterian, 2 p.m.
G.W. Carver vs. Elmore County, 4 p.m.
Brewbaker Tech vs R.E. Lee, 6 p.m.
Games at Paterson Field on Wednesday include:
Stanhope Elmore vs St. James, 2 p.m.
LAMP vs Pike Road, 4 p.m.
Luverne vs. Jeff Davis, 6 p.m.
Other games from Tuesday’s schedule will be rescheduled if timeslots are available.