Oxford’s girls earn spot in Class 6A finals, start out hot from the field, then hold on at the end
By Al Muskewitz
BIRMINGHAM – So much for the idea of a big arena and the voids behind the baskets messing with your depth perception.
Oxford didn’t seem to have any problem with the sight lines in the BJCC Legacy Arena Wednesday morning. The Lady Jackets couldn’t miss from behind the arc early in the game and were perfect from the line until late in the third quarter and needed all of it as they held off Pelham 70-67 in the Class 6A girls Final Four.
The Lady Jackets (27-4), playing in their first ever Final Four, will face undefeated four-time defending state champion Hazel Green (34-0) for the title Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
“I can finally spill the beans on our sign in the locker room,” Oxford coach Melissa Bennett said. “Before the season started I asked our cheerleaders to make us a sign that says ‘Chasing the Map.’
“We wanted to be in this game. We knew we had the potential. We just had to have the buy-in and the commitment and that’s happened, so it’s really sweet to be playing in it … We had a goal early on to be here, so for it to be coming true, for it to be happening for these young ladies, there aren’t enough words to describe what this group is.”
The Lady Jackets’ hot shooting helped them build a 19-point lead with three minutes left in the game, but Pelham staged a furious rally and got within two in the final second. But the Lady Panthers (27-6), coached by former Oxford assistant Crosby Morrison, had to foul in order to have a final chance.
Oxford has been good at the line, especially since the regionals, and Lauren Ellard hit the second of two free throws to guarantee nothing worse than a tie could happen to it in regulation. Then the defense kept Pelham from getting the ball across midcourt before the horn sounded and the victory was secured.
“Would have loved to have not made that such a good game,” Bennett deadpanned.
In a lot of ways, the game was similar to the Lady Jackets’ regional final win over Chelsea – except for their hot shooting at the start.
Justice Woods came down on Oxford’s first possession of the game, drained a 3-pointer from the left corner and it was on.
The Lady Jackets came into the game shooting 32 percent from 3-point range for the season, but were only 6-of-27 from behind the arc in the Northeast Regional, but hit their first four 3s in the game and five in the first quarter.
“We did not shoot well at regionals, so we talked in this last week of prep how we had to shoot better,” Bennett said. “The girls put extra work in (to the tune of 200 extra shots apiece).
“At this point in the season you try to go a little shorter (in practice), kind of focus in on some things, so for them to be staying and getting extra reps, it showed up today, and that goes to this great group of young women.”
The hot shooting early that led to the big lead helped offset the 32 turnovers that almost cost the Lady Jackets in the end.
Kaleah Taylor, a 37 percent shooter from the arc this year, was the sharpest of the shooters. The senior who hit the biggest 3 of the year when she beat the buzzer to send the regional final into overtime was 3-for-3 from out there in the quarter and missed only one shot – field goals or free throws – the entire first half.
“That was the focus point coach Bennett hit in the beginning of the game, actually last night when we came in here to watch the games, the depth perception,” Taylor said. “That was the big focus for us, to focus in on our shots, especially warming up.”
Taylor led all scorers in the game with 20 points. She finished 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Xai Whitfield had 14 points and nine rebounds, Woods finished with 13 and Mya McGrue had 12.
Pelham threatened twice in the first half once Oxford established the lead, but both times the Lady Jackets pushed back with some sort of 3 – either from behind the arc or a traditional three-point play.
The Lady Panthers closed to within 19-18, then McGrue converted an and-one and Woods followed with a 3. It was 27-24 later in the second quarter and Whitfield hit a 3 to spark the run that carried the Lady Jackets to a 40-30 halftime lead.
It was more of the same in the second half – until the last three minutes of the game. Pelham cut a 17-point Oxford lead to nine early in the fourth quarter, and the Lady Jackets answered that with a 3 from Keziah Mickler. That kicked off nine straight points that seemingly put the game away, but the Lady Panthers rallied again.
It was a 10-point game with 49 seconds left, but Pelham worked the margin to two on Victoria West’s 3-pointer with four seconds to play. The Lady Panthers had to foul and put Ellard on the line with seven-tenths of a second left. Ellard hit one of two free throws for the final margin.
Oxford finished the game 9-of-19 from 3-point range, but was 23-of-28 at the line.
“With four minutes left in the fourth quarter I was thinking this could get ugly, but this group just showed the character they had … for all four years, which is the reason why they’re here and playing in this type game,” Morrison said. “We basically told them this is it, leave everything you have, and I truly felt like they did. We were playing to win at the end and I felt like they were playing to not lose at the end so we just tried to capitalize on that.”
CLASS 6A GIRLS FINAL FOUR
Oxford 70, Pelham 67
PELHAM (27-6) –Savannah Scarbrough 7-8 2-2 17, Myriah Tate 1-4 2-4 4, Laci Gogan 5-13 4-4 16, Jaslyn Heflin 4-11 1-2 9, Victoria West 5-8 5-8 17, Jadin Lykes 0-0 0-0 0, Jaden Jones 2-3 0-0 4, Caley Peterrson 0-0 0-0 0, Katlyn Hollingsworth 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 14-20 67.
OXFORD (27-4) –Justice Woods 3-9 5-6 13, Xai Whitfield 4-9 5-7 14, Lauren Ellard 1-4 6-8 8, LaMya McGrue 4-6 3-3 12, Kaleah Taylor 6-11 4-4 20, JaMea Gaston 0-2 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 1-1 0-0 3, Kaylen Kenney 0-1 0-0 0, Mikiya Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Jaslyn Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0.
Pelham 14 16 10 27 – 67
Oxford 19 21 14 16 – 70
3-point goals: Pelham 5-11 (Scarbrough 1-1, Gogan 2-6, Heflin 0-2, West 2-2); Oxford 9-19 (Woods 2-5, Whitfield 1-2, Ellard 0-3, McGrue 1-2, Taylor 4-5, Gaston 0-1, Mickler 1-1). Rebounds: Pelham 27 (Tate 6, Heflin 5, West 5); Oxford 28 (Whitfield 9, McGrue 5). Fouled out: Tate, McGrue. Total fouls: Pelham 21, Oxford 18.
HAZEL GREEN 74, PARK CROSSING 54: Senior Samiya Steele poured in 30 points to keep the Trojans’ quest for a fifth straight AHSAA girls’ state basketball title alive with their 56thconsecutive victory.
Steele was 11-of-16 from the field, 8-of-9 at the foul line, had eight rebounds and five assists. Nyla Collier added 18 points, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Leah Brooks had 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
But coach Tim Miller and the Trojans (34-0) know they have to play better if they want to extend their streaks against Oxford who, like Park Crossing, is in the Final Four for the first time.
Hazel Green held Park Crossing to one point in the first quarter, but the 54 points the Thunderbirds wound up scoring were the most the Trojans have allowed during its four-state championship run. The juggernaut came in averaging just over 30 points allowed per game.
“I always tell the girls any win is a good win, but they would tell you we did not play great today,” Miller said. “we had a couple of girls out there who looked shell-shocked and like they had never been there before. We have to play better than what we did.”
“Everyone knows we can play better than that,” Steele said.
Hazel Green 74, Park Crossing 54
HAZEL GREEN (34-0) – Sydney Steward 0-4 0-0 0, Leah Brooks 6-12 0-0 12, Amiya Redus 2-4 2-3 6, Samiya Steele 11-16 8-9 30, Nyla Collier 7-9 0-1 18, Ijah Drake 0-0 2-2 2, Addison Cantrell 0-0 0-0 0, Jaden Toney 0-0 1-2 1, Reagan Baeder 0-0 0-0 0, Cevyn Crutcher 2-2 1-2 5, Brett Douglas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-47 14-19 74.
PARK CROSSING (30-5) – Kelsie Thomas 1-10 2-4 4, Saniya Jackson 5-14 2-3 13, Alexis Andrews 6-19 11-12 24, Kamore Smith 4-10 0-0 11, Genesis Chatman 0-1 0-0 0, Endia McReynolds 0-0 0-0 0, Ramiyah Myers 0-1 0-0 0, Amore Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Frankia Newton 0-3 0-0 0, Kamryn Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Makayla Meeks 0-0 0-0 0, WenDee Griffin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-59 15-21 54.
Hazel Green 14 16 19 25 – 74
Park Crossing 1 15 20 18 – 54
3-point goals: Hazel Green 4-9 (Steward 0-2, Redus 0-1, Steele 0-1, Collier 4-5); Park Crossing 5-23 (Thomas 0-2, Jackson 1-4, Andrews 1-5, 5-Smith 3-8, Chatman 0-1, Newton 0-3). Rebounds: Hazel Green 35 (Brooks 10, Steele 8); Park Crossing 35 (Jackson 8, Newton 8). Fouled out: Thomas, Jackson, Newton. Total fouls: Hazel Green 15, Park Crossing 21. [*** read more]
