2011 Final 48 Opens Five-Day Run With 1A and 2A
BIRMINGHAM—The Final 48 State Basketball Championship began its annual five-day run here Tuesday at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex with semifinal rounds for Class 1A and 2A girls and boys.
Class 1A Girls Semifinals
McIntosh 46, Ragland 44
Amber Roberts’ free throw with 2.6 seconds left put McIntosh (24-1) in the lead for good as the Lady Demons held on to beat Ragland (27-5) 46-44 to advanced to the Class 1A state finals for fourth time in the last six years.
Roberts finished with a game-high 19 points. She sank four 3-point goals and also handed out six assists. Tolondrea Bolden also had 13 points and seven rebounds for Coach Renard Davis’ Demons. McIntosh was just 4-of-15 at the foul line for the game.
Ragland had 14 rebounds and nine points from Kailey Echols, 12 points from Emily Church, 10 points and eight rebounds from Paige Gann. Echols also had five steals.
McIntosh will play R.A. Hubbard in the finals at Friday at 4 p.m.
R.A. Hubbard 66, Akron 57
Coach Nicholas Vinson led R.A. Hubbard’s football team to the Super 6 Class 1A finals at last December. Tuesday night Vinson’s Lady Chiefs basketball team ran past Akron 66-57 to advance to the Final 48 Class 1A girls state finals.
Hubbard (21-3) will face McIntosh (24-1) in the championship game Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Akron (25-5) trailed by 10 at the half but outscored the Chiefs 17-9 in the third quarter to pull to within two at 45-43 heading into the fourth period. Hubbard regrouped, however, to close strong and get the win.
Alexandria Gholston scored 26 points, Teresa Echols added 10 and Alexis Acosta had eight points and 15 rebounds for Hubbard.
Akron junior Kadijah Small had 20 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore Valencia McCain had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Rams.
Class 1A Boys Semifinals
Cedar Bluff 89, McIntosh 50
Cedar Bluff’s outside shooters Marcus Reese and DeAngelo Hardy came out red hot in the first quarter and hit seven 3-pointers as the Tigers jumped out to a 28-9 lead, then cruised to the 39-point win over McIntosh.
Reese finished 5-of- 6 from the 3-point arc and Hardy was 3-of-7 as Cedar Bluff (29-3) moved into the Final 48 Class 1A boys finals. The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thuraday.
Hardy led all scorers with 27 points, Tyric Scales had 21 and Reese 20. The Tigers were 12-of-28 on treys on the game, shot 52.5 percent overall and were 13-of-18 at the foul line in what Coach Joe Carpenter described as a complete game.
Norman Pressley led McIntosh (13-13) with 17 points and Nicholas Davis added nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Pickens County 65, Keith 57
Pickens County went to the foul line 46 times and made 22 -- just enough to edge past tough Keith 65-57 as the Tornadoes advanced to the Class 1A state finals in the process.
The Tornadoes (29-1) recorded their 14th straight win thanks to a strong effort by Jematric Curry, who had 20 points, nine rebounds and 8 of 18 free throws. Teammates Demarko Hall, Lajuan Doss and Warren Betts added 14, 10 and 10, respectively. Doss also and four steals, Hall and Curry three each.
Keith (19-11) suffered its first setback to a 1A team this season by losing the rebound battle 47-33 and shooting just 15-of-31 at the foul line. A total of 57 fouls were called and the two teams combined to go 37-of-77 at the charity stripe.
Forrest Pasley had 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bears. Rodney Ellis added 10 points.
Top-ranked Pickens County, which held a 14-2 edge in steals, faces second-ranked Cedar Bluff (29-3) in the finals at 8 p.m. Thursday night at 8 p.m.
Class 2A Girls Semifinals
Woodland 58, Barbour County 41
Freshman Leah Strain sank 19-of-25 free throws en route to a 37-point performance as Woodland’s Lady Bobcats downed Barbour County to become the first team to clinch a berth in the AHSAA Final 48 state finals.
Woodland (30-6) led 31-17 at the half thanks to a strong press, then slowed things down in the second half to coast into the Class 2A championship game scheduled Thursday afternoon a 4 p.m. Strain was a perfect 10-of-10 in the first half at the foul line and 9-of-15 in the second half. She also was 8-of-18 from the field and sank two 3-pointers. She also had 10 rebounds and three steals.
Haley Rollins added six points, Shalyn Strain had five and Shanna Strain four. Shalyn and Shanna are head coach Larry Strain’s nieces. Leah is his daughter.
Barbour County (26-3) was paced by Tiffany Brooks’ 14 points and Jakita George’s game-high 11 rebounds.
Tanner 63, Lanett 33
Shaquinta Sales had 18 points and seven rebounds to lead Tanner (31-3) past Lanett (18-14) in the Class 2A semifinals. Tanner and Woodland will now meet in the state finals Thursday at 4 p.m.
Lauren Harrilson had 10 points and eight rebounds and Alliyah Fletcher had eight points and four assists.
Tierra Henry scored 18 for the Panthers.
Class 2A Boys Semi-Finals
Barbour County 80, Sand Rock 41
Barbour County (29-4) shot 54.4 percent from the floor as Takwain Whigham and Jh’Corri Milton scored 21 points each as the Jaguars advanced to the Class 2A boys state finals. The championship will be at 6 p.m. Thursday night at the BJCC.
Coach Raymond White also got 12 points and 13 rebounds from 6-foot-7 Joseph Screws.
Sand Rock (23-10) was led by Justin Kyser, who had 19 points that included 16-of-21 at the foul line. Brannon Burt added 18 points.
Tanner 79, Lanett 72
Tanner (27-6) advanced to the Class 2A boys state finals with a 79-72 win over Lanett (19-15). The Rattlers now join their girls team, which advanced to the 2A girls finals earlier in the day.
Coach Chris Whitt’s team got a 28-point effort from guard Chris Hines. Hines was 10-of-20 from the field and 8-of-12 from the free-throw line and also handed out seven assists. Greg Maclin added 18 points and 12 rebounds while Monterice Cosby added 11 points.
Lanett was led by Deontrelle Silmon with 18 points and Dimitri Henry with 16. Silmons also had 10 rebounds and Tyizswain Jones had a game-high 16 boards to go with his nine points and two blocked shots.
Tanner will play Barbour County at 6 p.m. Thursday in the finals.