Local schools continue championship pursuit
Published 4:10 pm Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Keith’s Zykia Pettway takes a shot earlier this season in a game against Selma. The Bears and Saints are two of the three local AHSAA teams still playing. Selma will face Valley Thursday at 6 p.m. in Montgomery, while Keith will battle Loachapoka Friday at 3 p.m. Dallas County’s boys are also still playing, as the defending 4A champions look to repeat. The Hornets will face Talladega Monday at 10:30 a.m.–Daniel Evans
The first week and a half of the Alabama High School Athletic Association postseason was tough on local teams. Only one boys’ team, defending 4A state champion Dallas County, and two girls teams, Selma and Keith, were able to make it through unscathed.
The No. 1 Keith boys went down in an upset to Akron that even the biggest Rams’ supporters may not have seen coming. Selma’s boys couldn’t stick with Hillcrest and none of the other three AHSAA girls programs could muster up a win with their season on the line.
Even the teams that did make it through haven’t had it easy. Selma had to battle through three overtime periods — two against Hillcrest and one against Northridge — and Dallas County overcame an early 12-0 deficit against Demopolis. The only team that has made it look easy is the Keith Lady Bears, who have won their three postseason games by a combined 135 points.
However, even Keith’s road to a championship has taken a major step up in competition now. The Bears will face Loachapoka Friday at 3 p.m. — the team that ended Keith’s season in the central regional last season. Loachapoka was also one of the only teams to defeat Keith this season. The teams are no stranger to one another, as this will be the third straight year they’ve met in the regionals.
“I kind of have an idea of what we have to do and who we have to contain, so it is stuck in my head,” Keith head coach Cecil Williams said. [Two years ago] we won at the buzzer [over them] and they beat us by 10 last year. We know it is going to be tough competition between us and them every year.”
Under head coach Anthony Harris, Selma continues to churn out 20 win seasons. The Lady Saints have won 20 games for 12 consecutive years and now sit four wins away from a state championship, an honor that has eluded Harris despite having several teams make runs to the AHSAA Final 48.
Selma will face a Valley team that has won five straight games Thursday at 6 p.m.
The only boys’ team still playing is used to the spotlight. Dallas County’s mission to repeat will continue Monday with Talladega, which is one of only two boys’ teams still playing with 30 or more wins.
“It’s going to take a perfect game,” Dallas County coach Willie Moore said.
The Hornets will play Talladega Monday at 10:30 a.m., after almost a week of rest.
