Hazel Green High School’s smothering defense propelled the Lady Trojans (34—2) to a 46-35 victory over Opelika Wednesday morning as the Class 6A semifinal battle opened the third day’s action at the 98thAHSAA State Basketball Championships at the BJCC Legacy Arena.
Coach Tim Miller’s girls advance to the 6A finals Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against the winner of the Wednesday’s other 6A semifinal featuring McAdory vs. Northridge.
Hazel Green forced 17 turnovers, won the rebound war 34-20, limited the Bulldogs (27-7) to just 13-of-41 (31.7%) from the floor and 3-of-19 from 3-point zone (15.8%) but still had to sink 11 free throws in the final period to seal the win. Maggie Telaga and Samiya Steele each ad 14 points to pace the Trojans on offense. Telaga made four 3-pointers and Steele was clutch at the foul line sinking 5-of-6. Farrah Pearson had eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds, MaKenzie Hill had 10 points and eight boards, and Katie Johnson also had eight rebounds.
Opelika (27-7), which rallied in the fourth period to close the gap to 39-35 with 1:13 to play, was forced into a foul situation the rest of the way and the Trojans sank six in a row in the final minute. The Bulldogs of Coach Devin Booth were led by Kaitlyn Bryant’s nine points, three assists and two steals. Haley Sanders added seven points and Ananda Hughley had four points and six rebounds.
Hazel Green and Opelika met in the state finals last season. The Trojans have captured three state titles (1995, 2018, 2019) and will be going for their third in a row Saturday.
All semifinal and championship games in the 2020 AHSAA State Tourney are being live-streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based platform and are also being shown over the AHSAA TV Network’s group of cable affiliates in Alabama. WOTM TV is producing all games and the AHSAA Radio Network is handling announcing duties for radio and TV during the semifinals.
All cable systems in Alabama have a chance to take the broadcast feed for all the games free of charge. If your local cable company is not televising the games, please contact them and ask them to join the AHSAA TV Network.
98thAHSAA STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wednesday’s Results
Class 6A Girls Semifinals
Hazel Green (34-2) 46, Opelika (27-7) 35