Auburn 44, Vestavia Hills 37
Auburn High School 6-foot-10 senior Garrison Brooks scored 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Tigers (23-9) to a 44-37 victory over Vestavia Hills (19-15) in the 95th AHSAA State Basketball Tournament Class 7A boys’ semifinal game Thursday at the BJCC Legacy Arena.
Brooks had six offensive rebounds in his total, had three steals and a blocked shot for Coach Frank Tolbert’s Tigers. Brooks was also 8-of-9 at the foul line, including a pair with 3:58 to play that erased a 37-36 Rebels lead. Brooks sank two more with four seconds left to seal the win.
Antoine Pitts added right points and nine rebounds for the Tigers and Will Elston had three assists.
The Class 7A boys’ finals will close out the 2017 State Finals Saturday night with a 5:45 p.m. tip-off. The Class 1A girls’ championship game between defending champ Spring Garden and R.A. Hubbard will be at 4 p.m., tonight, and the Class 1A boys’ title game will close out the day at 5:45 p.m. with two-time defending champion Sacred Heart Catholic taking on South Lamar. Championships for boys and girls in Classes 2A, 3A and 4A are scheduled for Friday with Class 5A, 6A and 7A finals set for Saturday’s final day. All semifinals in the 95th AHSAA State Championships are being live-streamed by the NFHS Network, and the finals will be televised live and live-streamed by Raycom Sports. The AHSAA Radio Network is also broadcasting all games over its statewide radio network and internet link.