The Barbour County boys closed out a perfect season to win the Class 2A state title, Pickens County captured another Class 1A boys crown and McIntosh won the Class 1A girls title Thursday in the 2012 Final 48 State Basketball Championships at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham.
The Class 5A semifinals were played earlier in the day.
Class 2A Boys Championship
Barbour County 55, Vincent 38
Barbour County became the first boys team to go undefeated since 2003 with its 55-38 win over Vincent in the Class 2A finals and finished 34-0. The last boys team to go unbeaten was John Carroll (36-0).
Coach Raymond White, who recorded his 700th career win earlier this season, also directed the Jaguars' 2009 state title. The Jags finished second in 2011.
Class 2A tourney MVP Takwain Whigham scored 20 points and had six rebounds to lead Barbour County’s offensive effort. Willie Eutsey was 5-of-6 from the field to finish with 10 points.
Vincent (27-7) was led by Tyler Williams and Dontravious Moon with 16 points each.
The Jags limited the Jackets to just 3-of-21 from the field in the second half and outscored Vincent 30-11 after trailing 27-25 at the half.
Also named to the All-Tourney team were Eutsey, Williams, Moon, Joe Wilson of Mars Hill Bible and Justice Jackson of Lanett.
Class 1A Boys Championship
Pickens County 70, Cedar Bluff 59
Pickens County reeled off a 15-2 run in the third period to take control en route to a 70-59 win over Cedar Bluff in the Class 1A Boys finals.
The state crown was the third in a row for the Tornadoes (29-5), the first under the direction of new head coach Patrick Plott, however. De’Marko Hardy earned MVP honors with 17 points in the finals. Warren Betts had 19, Bobby Bradford 14 and Nicholas Stewart added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Cedar Bluff (20-15), which lost to Pickens County in the 2011 state finals, pulled within five of the Tornadoes early in the fourth quarter, but the lead was stretched to 16 by the time the Tigers made another field goal.
DeAngelo Hardy led Coach Joe Carpenter’s Tigers with 18 points. Terrance Scales had 12 and Rihied Harris and Evan McBurnett added 11 each. Harris had a team high nine rebounds.
Joining Hardy on the All-Tournament Team were teammates Bradford and Betts, Hardy and Scales of Cedar Bluff, and Adrian Rich of Georgiana.
Class 1A Girls Championship
McIntosh 48, Holy Spirit Catholic 39
McIntosh captured its third state championship with a 48-39 win over Holy Spirit Catholic in Class 1A Girls finals.
The Demons (25-1) took 46 fewer field-goal attempts, were out-rebounded 73-39 and had three more turnovers than the Titans (32-2). Coach Renard Davis’ team pulled out the title, their first since back-to-back crowns in 2006 and 2007, by making the most of their opportunities.
Kaela Adams finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. She made 5-of-6 free throws, most of them in the clutch after Holy Spirit had cut an early 28-15 lead to just three in the second half.
Amber Roberts, named the 1A state tournament MVP, added 11 points, including two treys. Tolondrea Bolden and Paige Barnes chipped in eight points and Shelby Weaver was a force inside with 11 rebounds and eight blocked shots while scoring six points.
Holy Spirit senior Kaitlyn Taylor led all scorers with 22 points. She attempted a Final 48 record 45 field-goal attempts, made nine and also pulled down 16 rebounds. Ten of her rebounds were on the offensive end. Tamera Giles also had 22 rebounds, Rachel Taylor 10 and Sara Walmsley nine.
The 73 rebounds was a 1A girls state tournament record with 46 coming on offense for another state tournament record.
Joining Roberts on the All-Tourney Team were Barnes of McIntosh, Taylor and Giles of Holy Spirit, Alexandria Gholston of R.A. Hubbard and Justice Looney of Ragland.
Class 5A Girls Semifinals
Valley 60, Center Point 50
The Valley Lady Rams upped the tempo and raced into the Class 5A Girls state finals with a 60-50 win over defending state champion Center Point (formerly Erwin).
Valley (26-2) had 14 turnovers in the first half and trailed 31-24. Coach George Grimes said his team was playing too slow.
“Our pace is fast,” he said.
The Rams made the adjustment in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 46-19 while reducing their turnovers to only three.
Audianna Walker led the upbeat attack with 20 points. Alexia Huguley added 12 and Breyunna Bussey 10.
Center Point (25-9) was paced by Keonna Farmer’s 22 points and eight rebounds.
Valley advances to 5A title game Saturday at 1 p.m. against Brewer.
Brewer 50, Faith Academy 45
Brewer fell behind 20-8 after the first quarter but rallied in the second half to beat Faith Academy 50-45 in the Class 5A semifinals.
The Patriots (31-3) outscored Faith (30-1) 33-21 in the final two quarters to hand the Rams their only loss of the season.
Riley Northway sparked the Pats with 22 points and nine rebounds. She was 8-of-9 at the foul line, most of them coming late in the contest. Courtney Oldacre had 10 points, made all four free throws and sank two 3-pointers.
Jasmine Rhodes led Faith with 22 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Madeleine Philpot added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Brewer advances to the finals Saturday at 1 p.m. against Valley (26-2).
Class 5A Boys Semifinals
Wenonah 72, Sylacauga 50
The defending Class 5A champion Wenonah Dragons jumped out to a quick 29-9 lead after the first quarter and sailed into the Class 5A finals with a 72-50 win over Sylacauga.
The Dragons (30-7) used a balanced attack with Derunnya Wilson scoring 18 points, Chase Sadler 17 and Isaiah Maston 15. Wilson had 14 rebounds and Maston and Sadler each hit three 3-pointers.
Sylacauga (26-10) was led by Kelvin Lomas’ 15 points.
Wenonah will play Lee-Huntsville in the title game Saturday at 3 p.m.
Lee-Huntsville 67, Faith Academy 53
Lee-Huntsville advanced to the Boys Class 5A finals for the third year in a row with a 57-53 win over Faith Academy of Mobile.
The Generals of Coach Greg Brown will meet defending state champion Wenonah in the championship game Saturday at 3 p.m.
Lee (26-10) got 21 points from Mike Greer, 14 from Eric Robertson and 11 from Jordan Elliott.
Faith Academy (24-7), making its first AHSAA Final 48 state tournament appearance, was led by Lorenzo McClain's 20 points and Dylan Brown's 19.