AHSAA 5A Final Four Preview
With tournament play coming to a close, only four teams remain in the hunt for the Class 5A State Championship title. Those teams are Wenonah, East Limestone, Center Point, and Bibb County. These four teams will face off in two…
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Continue ReadingWith tournament play coming to a close, only four teams remain in the hunt for the Class 5A State Championship title. Those teams are Wenonah, East Limestone, Center Point, and Bibb County. These four teams will face off in two games that will be played in Birmingham on February 27th starting at 4:30 pm. The winners will move on and face each other in the State Finals game on March 2nd at 10:45 am.
Class 5A
#1 Wenonah (29-5) vs. Ramsay (20-13)
How They Got There:
Wenonah: Mortimer Jordan (69-34), Madison Academy (39-36), East Limestone (64-32)
Ramsay: Clay Central (91-67), Brewbaker Tech (53-49) Sylacauga (59-58)
Players to Watch:
Wenonah: Two key players to watch for the Dragons are Cameron Tucker and Jayden Sanders. Tucker put up 18 points to help Wenonah survive the attempted comeback from Madison Academy in the Regional Semi-Finals game. Sanders also put up 13 points to help prevent the comeback.
Ramsay: Kisean Johnson and Keshawn Murphy are players you need to keep your eye on for the Rams. Johnson put up 22 points in the Regional Finals win over Sylacauga and 17 points in the Regional Semi-Finals game against Brewbaker Tech. Murphy also helped lead the Rams to the win over Brewbaker with a 10 point and 10 rebound double-double.
Prediction:
These two teams have already met twice this season, and Wenonah won both of them by a pretty big margin. I don’t see much reason to expect things to go differently this time. I think that Ramsay will play hard and make it a pretty good game, but I think that Wenonah will get the double-digit win and advance to the State Finals game.
Center Point (17-14) vs. Bibb County (14-15)
How They Got There:
Center Point: Alexandria (53-46), Scottsboro (57-37), Etowah (68-49)
Bibb County: Marbury (74-70), Vigor (44-42) Central (55-41)
Players to Watch:
Center Point: Roderick Orr and LeBoise Deru have been performing really well for the Eagles recently. Orr had 16 points and 6 rebounds in the Regional Finals win over Etowah. Deru had an impressive double-double, with 12 points and 13 rebounds, plus 3 steals in that same win.
Bibb County: Two key players for the Choctaws are Zarien Avery and De’Yonte’ Cutts. Avery had a monster game in the Regional Finals, with 16 points and 17 rebounds, and shot 6-9 overall during the game. Cutts also had an impressive performance in that game, with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.
Prediction:
Bibb County has had an impressive run in the postseason despite not winning their area and not having a great overall record. Despite solid play recently by Bibb County, I think Center Point is going to come out strong and take the win over Bibb County in a close one Wednesday night to advance to the State Finals game.
Check out our Class 1A, Class 2A, Class 3A, and Class 4A Final Four previews!