7A Area 5-6 Tournament Preview

<p>With the regular season coming to a close, area tournaments are next. Area 5 and 6 are primarily Birmingham metro schools. Hoover, Oak Mountain, Thompson and Tuscaloosa Co. are area 5. Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Spain Park, and Hewitt-Trussville are in 6. The host sites for the tournaments are Hoover and Mountain Brook. All teams that make area championship games earn a state playoff bid.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Area 5</strong></span></p> <p><strong>Hoover (18-6):</strong> Hoover went 6-0 in area play. Presbyterian signee,<strong> CJ Melton</strong>, and fellow 2019 prospect, <strong>Ahman Ellington</strong>, are key players for Hoover. The Bucs' senior leadership and home court advantage will play a big role in the tournament.</p> <p><strong>Oak Mountain (19-8): </strong>Oak Mountain finished area play with a 4-2 record. Senior guards <strong>Drew Dunn </strong>and <strong>Turner Youngblood </strong>are two to watch, but a younger prospect to keep eyes on is 6'8 <strong>Will</strong> <strong>Shaver </strong>(2022). The Eagles need to play their game and focus on getting the first win.</p> <p><strong>Thompson (17-10): </strong>Thompson finished area play at 2-4. The Warriors are lead by a trio of 2021 guards: <strong>Tre Roberson, Zack Littleton, </strong>and <strong>Jack Dorolek</strong>. In order to make some noise, the Warriors need their perimeter players to have all cylinders firing. </p> <p><strong>Tuscaloosa Co (10-16): </strong>Tuscaloosa Co. went 0-6 in area play. <strong>Marcus McCants </strong>(2020) and <strong>Bryson Hall </strong>(2021) are two players to watch for TC. Tuscaloosa Co. needs to go into the game with nothing to lose. There are always upsets in area tournaments.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Area 6</strong></span></p> <p><strong>Mountain Brook (25-3): </strong>The Spartans went 6-0 in area play. <strong>Trendon Watford </strong>(2019) will draw all the attention in the gym. <strong>Alex Washington</strong> (2019), <strong>Lior Berman </strong>(2019), and <strong>Colby Jones </strong>(2020) are other players Mountain Brook needs playing at a high level. When the "other" Spartans are at their best, Mountain Brook can't be beat. </p> <p><strong>Vestavia Hills (19-9): </strong>The Rebels finished 4-2 in the area. Vestavia has a senior lead roster and the size to compete with anyone in the state. <strong>Paul Michael Hargrove </strong>(2019) is a skilled post and <strong>Luke Couch</strong> (2019) is a gun slinger on the perimeter. These two players need to have big games in order for the Rebels to advance.</p> <p><strong>Spain Park (7-22): </strong>Spain Park finished area play at 1-5. The Jags have been on the wrong end of close games this season. Seniors <strong>Austin Laatsch </strong>and <strong>Parker Boswell</strong> are two players that Spain Park needs big performances from, in order to make an upset happen.</p> <p><strong>Hewitt Trussville (7-15): </strong>Hewitt went 0-6 in area play. The Huskies had some games this season that came down to wire. <strong>Jaxon Hunter </strong>(2019) and <strong>Cameron Glover </strong>(2020)are two players to watch for Hewitt. A team that competes hard and has nothing to lose, is a dangerous team to face in tournament play.</p>