Lasting impressions for a memorable week, chaotic finish, to the AHSAA state basketball finals - AL.com

This is an opinion piece

As I look back on the 100th AHSAA state basketball finals, there is a lot to process.

We had a few classic battles, too many lopsided games, some history in the making and a rather chaotic Saturday to close out the week.

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Here are a few lasting impressions for me from six days in Birmingham.

Renovated venue: The new Legacy Arena at the BJCC is as advertised. It was good to get back to one location after having to split last year’s state finals between UAB and Bill Harris Arena due to construction at the BJCCC. The concession prices are a little high (I paid $10 for a diet coke and a pack of M@Ms), but all in all I came away impressed.

AHSAA Championship Basketball — Prattville Christian celebrates after defeating Susan Moore in overtime during the AHSAA Class 3A girls championship at BJCC's Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., Friday, March 4, 2022. (Marvin Gentry | preps@al.com)

North vs. South: It wasn’t much of a contest. Teams from the north part of the state took home 12 of the 14 state titles. The only teams from the South to take home blue maps where the Prattville Christian girls, who repeated as champs in Class 3A, and the Enterprise boys, who finished the week with a dramatic victory over James Clemens in the 7A title game. In fact, only four of the 14 championship games even included a representative from the south. The other 10 title games pitted northern teams against each other.

Blowout city: There were too many lopsided games last week. Of the 42 games played, 23 were decided by 15 points or more. Half of the 14 championship games were decided by 15 points or more.

Leaving an impression: Ramsay’s best basketball player, Kerrington Kiel, was ejected from the 5A boys championship game against Lee-Huntsville after receiving a pair of technical fouls in the second quarter. The first of those was a double technical foul with a Lee player. It can be argued whether Kiel deserved one or both, but that’s not a point I’m going to argue. What I thought was impressive was the way Kiel reacted for the rest of the game. He didn’t sulk or stay in the lockerroom. Instead, he was on the bench the rest of the game cheering on his team. He also came to the postgame press conference and answered questions following his team’s narrow loss. That type of character always makes an impact on me.

Saturday chaos: We at AL.com covered the chaotic situation Saturday between the Class 6A boys and Class 7A girls championship game as well as we could. There was an apparent altercation, rumors of gunshots, pandemonium in the Arena. As it turns out, no shots were fired, order was restored and play continued after a short delay. Credit the Birmingham police department and other security with calming and resolving the situation quickly. Also, I have to acknowledge the coaches of the two games that followed – Hoover’s Krystle Johnson and Vestavia Hills’ John David Smelser on the girls side and Enterprise’s Rhett Harrelson and James Clemens’ Frankie Sullivan on the boys side. It couldn’t have been easy to get their teams ready to play after such a scare, but they managed to do it and all four teams played well.

History made: Both the Hazel Green and Pisgah girls basketball teams tied an AHSAA record with their fifth straight state titles. Hazel Green defeated Oxford 55-38 to win another 6A title, while Pisgah knocked off St. Luke’s 74-54 to win the 2A crown. Those teams are now tied with Lauderdale County, which won five in a row between 2012 and 2016. Lauderdale County still holds the record for most girls titles overall with 13. Pisgah is second with 10. Five teams repeated as champs from 2021 – Lee-Huntsville boys, Hoover girls, Hazel Green girls, Pisgah girls and Prattville Christian girls.

First-time winners: There are six first-time state champions. They are Marion County (1A) and Guntersville (5A) on the girls side and Covenant Christian (1A), Jacksonville (4A), Cullman (6A) and Enterprise (7A) on the boys side.

Most exciting finish: It was clearly the final game of the week between Enterprise and James Clemens. Trevon Kemmerlin hit a short jumper in the lane with .9 seconds left to put Enterprise ahead to stay at 66-64. However, the game wasn’t over yet. James Clemens’ Pierce Roper got off a half-court 3 that bounced off the back of the rim as time expired.

Best crowd: I’ve got to give it to Cullman. The town emptied for both the Bearcats’ semifinal win and state title game. They came in full force wearing their now trademark neon green and celebrated the school’s first boys basketball title.

Here are the final scores of each championship game:

CLASS 1A

GIRLS: Marion County (29-7) 72, Skyline (28-9) 55

BOYS: Covenant Christian (29-6) 49, Decatur Heritage (21-8) 37

CLASS 2A

GIRLS: Pisgah (33-3) 74, St. Luke’s Episcopal (21-9) 54

BOYS: Section (28-9) 77, Mars Hill Bible (15-16) 61

CLASS 3A

GIRLS: Prattville Christian (36-1) 72, Susan Moore (30-5) 69 (OT)

BOYS: Plainview (31-6) 77, Winfield (31-6) 60

CLASS 4A

GIRLS: Deshler (34-1) 74, Saint James (25-7) 42

BOYS: Jacksonville (28-5) 85, Escambia County (27-5) 49

CLASS 5A

GIRLS: Guntersville (30-5) 40, Lee-Huntsville (26-7) 37

BOYS: Lee-Huntsville (25-6) 69, Ramsay (25-10) 68

CLASS 6A

GIRLS: Hazel Green (35-0) 55, Oxford (27-5) 38

BOYS: Cullman (29-3) 58, Huffman (29-6) 50

CLASS 7A

GIRLS: Hoover 34-3) 73, Vestavia Hills (33-3) 64

BOYS: Enterprise (25-6) 66, James Clemens ((21-10) 64

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