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Page 6B March 2022 Alabama Girls and Boys All-Stars Beat Mississippi The Sports Ledger
The Alabama girls' rolled to a fifth straight all-star win on March 12, 2022 beating Mississippi 89-81 in the 32nd Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic. Alabama’s girls have now won five all-star games in a row and hold an 18-14 edge in the series. Hoover senior Aniya Hubbard scored 17 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds to earn MVP honors for Alabama. Hubbard was 8-of-16 from the field with one trey and also had four assists and four steals. Mississippi's MVP was Carly Keats of Neshoba Central. Keats scored 24 point with six coming on two late 3-pointers. The Alabama squad led 27-23 early in the second quarter and by halftime had a 54-37 lead. The Bama girls, coached by Rogers’ Blake Prestage and Hewitt-Trussville’s Tonya Hunter, took control early in the first quarter thanks in big part to the play of Hubbard. The Florida Atlantic signee had 11 points in 11 minutes of play in the first half. More importantly, she gave the Alabama squad a calming presence, especially on offense. Hubbard picked up where she left off in the second half providing one big play after another, albeit a rebound and bucket or a pass to an open teammate. Shaniah Nunn of Fairfield had a big steal midway through the third period and fed a pass to Kelsey Thompson of Davidson who sank a trey to extend Alabama’s lead to 53-40. A trey and a putback by Hazel Green’s Samiya Steele stretched Alabama’s lead to 16 at 60-44 with two minutes remaining in the third period as well. When Hubbard went to the bench with four fouls in the second half, Steele, the Class 6AMVP stepped to the forefront providing strong floor leadership on defense and on the boards as Alabama took full control rolling into the final quarter with a 65-49 lead. Steele finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Alabama. Park Crossing’s Alexis Andrews scored 16 points, that included 4-of-7 baskets from 3-point range. Hartselle’s Masyn Marchbanks had seven points. Emma Kate Tittle of Deshler had six points, Emma Smith of Vestavia Hills added six points, four rebounds and two steals with some strong minutes in the second half, and Pisgah’s Molly Heard had five points, six rebounds and two assists for Alabama. Mississippi, coached by Devin Hill if Biloxi, was just 8-of-30. Keats was 6-of-9, however. The rest of the team was 2-of-21.
The Alabama Boys’ All-Stars pushed the pedal to the metal in the first half, building a 20-point lead midway through the second quarter and staved off a late Mississippi rally to post a 96-89 win in the 32nd Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Basketball Classic. Alabama’s boys now hold a 17-15 edge in the series which has been played annually since in 1991. Alabama, coached by Montgomery Catholic’s Mike Curry and Spanish Fort’s Jimbo Tolbert, totally dominated the opening half thanks to the strong play of McGill-Toolen Catholic’s 6-foot-6 Barry Dunning, anArkansas signee, and Sipsey Valley’s Martavious Russell, who is a Mississippi State signee. Russell put the icing on the cake in the first half with a steal and dunk followed by a behind-the-head dunk over a 10-second span in the final two minutes before intermission. His two buckets stretched Alabama’s lead to 53-31 with 1:30 left and led 55-33 heading into the second half. Mississippi rallied in the second half to cut the lead to nine with 10 minutes to play, but Russell stepped in with Dunning out of the game to stretch the lead to 13 points. Mississippi’s all-stars cut the Alabama lead to 78-70 with just over seven minutes left to play and got the ball back after two straight Alabama misses. Lee-Huntsville’s Jacari Lane got the steal and fed to Dunning on the fast break who slam-dunked for two. He was fouled on the play and made the bonus free throw to stretch Bama's lead back to 11 points at 84-73. Although Mississippi rallied late, the host team never recovered. Dunning finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and was 3-of-3 at the foul line. Russell added 19 points, nine rebounds and finished 9-of-14 from the field. Grissom’s Efrem Johnson chipped in 15 points, Midfield’s Anthony Johnson had 10 points, and Lane had eight points, three steals and one assist. Enterprise’s Elijah Terry, the Class 7A state tournament MVP last week, had 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and four points Kimani Hamilton, a 6'8' guard who is also heading to Mississippi State next season, earned Mississippi MVP honors with 23 points and seven rebounds. George Marshall of Forest Hill also had 23 points and Samuel Murray II of Harrison Central had seven points and team-high 10 rebounds. Mississippi’s head coach was Kendrick Davis of Wayne County.
Virginia Tech accepts the ACC Mens' Basketball Championship trophy following the Hokies 82-67 victory over Duke in the 2022 Tournament Championship. Hunter Cattoor paced Virginia Tech with 31 points. Teammate Keve Aluma had 19 points. Paolo Banchero led Duke with 20 points. Photo by ACC Athletics ACC CHAMPIONS
Sports Sideline BACK-TO-BACK NATIONAL CHAMPS Kentucky Junior Mary Tucker set the tone early with a score of 598 and freshman Allison Buesseler showed her clutch gene with a perfect final 10 shots to help the University of Kentucky rifle team claim the 2022 NCAA National Championship. The 2022 crown for Kentucky marks back-to-back National Championships for the program after the Wildcats won the top spot in 2021. Kentucky scored 4739 points as a team in the win, which is the best team score at the NCAA Championships in the 60- shot era. The previous best was the Wildcats 4731 points in the 2021 championship. This is Kentucky’s fourth national rifle championship in program history and all have been under head coach Harry Mullin. (2011, 2018, 2021, 2022). FINLEY NAMED FLORIDA HEAD COACH Kelly Rae Finley has been named the 11th head women's basketball coach at the University of Florida. REGIONALARCHERY CHAMPS The Guntersville High School Archery Team recently won the regional archery tournament. The school reported that Addie Grace Smith placed first in the High School girls division. Carson Floyd placed 2nd, and Tucker Lang earned 3rd place in the High School boys division. 2022 SEC MEDIA DAYS The 2022 SEC Football Media Day schedule has been set. The event will be held on July 18-21 at the College Football Hall of Fame and the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, GA. Alabama and Auburn will both be participating. The Crimson Tide will be up first on Tuesday, July 19 as Nick Saban will discuss the upcoming season. Auburn coach Brian Harsin will discuss the Tigers season on Thursday, July 21. Tennessee Coach Josh Heupel will also be in Atlanta on July 21 to talk about the Volunteers. JACKSONVILLE STATE BASKETBALL The JSU women's basketball team's historic run came to a close in the ASUN Championship Tournament. The Gamecocks fell to Florida Gulf Coast, 69-54. Despite the loss, JSU's historic 24-7 season is not finished as the Gamecocks are set to represent the ASUN in the WNIT as the league's automatic qualifier. The JSU mens' team will take onAuburn in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, which is set for Friday, March 18 in Greenville, SC. Tipoff is set for 11:40 a.m. CT. BAILEY HOWELL TROPHY The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame has announced the 2022 winner of the Bailey Howell Trophy. Iverson Molinar continued Mississippi State’s dominance as the latest recipient of the Trophy, which is named after Mississippi State legend and Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Bailey Howell. Molinar is the seventh Mississippi State player to capture the honor. He has extended the program’s run to four of the last five seasons winning the award under Ben Howland. Quinndary Weatherspoon was a two-time recipient during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, while Reggie Perry earned the 2019-20 honor. BRAVES TROPHY TO BE IN ALBERTVILLE The Atlanta Braves has announced several stops for the WorldChampions TrophyTour during the upcomingmonths The tour will travel throughout Braves Country through summer 2022 with a total of 151 stops, commemorating 151 years of Braves baseball. One of these stops will be at the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater in Albertville on June 25 at noon. Earlier in June, the trophy will make a stop at Chattanooga’s Riverbend Music Festival, which is set for June 4. The trophy will be on display at 2 p.m. For the second time in three years, the Tennessee Lady Vols Swimming and Diving Team are the SEC Champions. Photo Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics 2022 SEC CHAMPS
KSU Football Schedule
Kennesaw State has revealed its 2022 football schedule. The upcoming season marks the program's initial year as a member of the ASUN Conference. The Owls will host five games in total, and have scheduled a demanding non-conference slate, highlighted by College Football Playoff participant Cincinnati. KSU opens its season on a Thursday night for the second consecutive season, at Samford University on Sept. 1. The Owls and Bulldogs will meet for the fourth time with KSU having won the last two meetings. KSU defeated Samford in the 2017 FCS Playoffs, 28-17, and at home during the 2018 regular season, 24-10. The Owls then embark to Nippert Stadium to play the Cincinnati Bearcats. Cincinnati, who has won the last two American Conference titles, played in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, and finished 2021 ranked fourth in the AP and AFCA Coaches polls.
Following a bye week, KSU hosts its home opener against Wofford College. The Owls are 6-1 all-time in home openers and have won 16 consecutive non- conference regular season home games. KSU’s inauguralASUN football game comes on the road at Jacksonville State. The Owls and Gamecocks will meet Oct. 1 for the second straight season, and third time overall. KSU throttled then- No. 17 JSU, 31-6, this past October at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. KSU has won the previous two contests, including the classic five-overtime thriller in 2018. The Owls and Gamecocks first met in the second round of the 2017 FCS Playoffs where KSU earned a 17-7 victory at Burgess-Snow Field. The first ASUN gridiron game at Fifth Third Bank Stadium will be Oct. 8, when another former Big South foe, North Alabama, visits KSU. The Owls have won the previous two meetings, The second of four-
straight home games and three-straight conference games is set for Oct. 15 when KSU hosts Central Arkansas. The Bears will be in their second season as a conference member after playing last fall in the “AQ7”, where the ASUN and WAC formed a scheduling alliance for one season to earn an automatic qualifier into the FCS Playoffs. UCA is coming off a 5-6 season. Prior to joining the ASUN, the Bears won a share of the 2019 Southland Conference crown. The schedule then brings a string of three non- conference games, starting with Tennessee Tech at home Oct. 22. The teams have not met since 2018, where KSU posted a 49-10 victory on the road. This year’s meeting will mark the third in the series, where KSU has captured both games thus far. The four-game homestand ends with a familiar foe. Former conference mate Charleston Southern visits Kennesaw for an Oct. 29 contest. The
Bucs and Owls have a long history despite not meeting as Big South Conference members in 2021. The teams have played six times, where KSU leads the all-time series, 4-2. Most recently, they met in the spring 2021 season where the Owls won 24-19 at home. The non-conference finale is set for Nov. 5 at defending Ohio Valley Conference champion University of Tennessee at Martin. The Skyhawks went 10-3 and reached the second round of the FCS Playoffs after defeating Missouri State and then falling at Montana State. The regular season home finale will pit the Owls against Austin Peay in an ASUN clash Nov. 12. The Governors join the ASUN from the OVC where they went 6-5 in 2021 and finished second in the conference. The two programs have never met. KSU closes the regular season on the road with a Nov. 19 game at Eastern Kentucky.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey recently welcomed the Oakwood Adventist Academy boys basketball team to the State Capital for a meeting. The governor opened the meeting by reminding the boys what an inspiration they have been to so many and that she has heard from a variety of individuals from constituents to lawmakers regarding the basketball program. The Oakwood Basketball Team recently forfeited a playoff, giving up a chance for a state championship. The team cited that the reason for this is because the game fell on the Sabbath for Seventh-Day Adventists. Each player shared their name, position and a key takeaway from the events that unfolded during their meeting at the Capital. Governor Ivey was impressed by their strong convictions, determination to do what is right and their positive outlook on life, even when things did not go their way. “Alabamians and even folks around the country have been in total admiration of the young men on the Oakwood Adventist Academy basketball team. These boys stuck by their convictions, pointing out that sometimes it hurts to obey God. No doubt, these boys are reminding us all that when we work together and do what is right, we will be better off. As one player noted, God challenged them, and they passed the test.” Oakwood Team Meets With Governor Photo by Hal Yeager, Governor's Office
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