MONTGOMERY — After losing the state’s best player, many questioned how far Dallas County could go in 2015. The answer is back to Birmingham for the Alabama High School Athletic Association state finals.

Dallas County (24-5) stormed past Sumter Central in a 79-50 win Thursday in the boys class 5A central regional championship game at Alabama State University, sending the Hornets back to the Magic City for the second straight year. Once there, they’ll try to add a second championship trophy to go along with the 4A title they won last year.

The Hornets dominated in every facet of Thursday’s game — out rebounding the Jaguars, getting to the free throw line 35 times and knocking down five three-pointers.

“It’s pretty special to do it with these guys because they have put in a lot of hard work,” Dallas County head coach Willie Moore said. “It amazes me that we are having another opportunity to go back [to Birmingham]. I couldn’t be prouder to do that.”

Jerrod Moorer was named 5A tournament MVP after he scored 33 points Wednesday in a performance that looked similar to the 32 points he scored against Talladega last week.

Sumter Central started the fourth meeting between the two rivals aggressive and physical on defense. The Jaguars led 14-12 after the opening quarter, but Dallas County found its groove to begin the second. The Hornets began the quarter on a 16-3 run that included back-to-back threes from Javaris McGuire and Kendell Motley.

“After the first quarter, we started playing like we’d been here before,” Moore said.

Moorer shot 20 free throws after attempting 24 against the Talladega in the semifinal round of the tournament. He started the game with a three-pointer — his only one of the tournament — and avoided getting into foul trouble early like he did against the Tigers.

“It gave me a good chance to help the team win,” Moorer said with a laugh.

Raheem Phillips had a super efficient day, scoring 17 points on only six field goal attempts. He also dished out four assists and joined Moorer on the all-tournament team.

“It feels great knowing that other people didn’t think we could do it,” Phillips said. “The people who doubted us really makes it more enjoyable.”

Not only did Dallas County lose William Lee, who was named Mr. Basketball for the state of Alabama by the Alabama Sports Writers Association, off of last year’s team, but the Hornets were also moved up a classification from 4A to 5A under the AHSAA’s new alignment.

Moore said the process of getting back to Birmingham started right after last year’s state championship game.

In his postgame press conference Wednesday, he pulled out a photo of Lee putting his arm around Moorer as they walked through the tunnel of the BJCC last year. The photo was taken just minutes after Dallas County had won the 4A championship.

“He basically passed the torch on to these guys,” Moore said of Lee. “It made it easier for us trying to work in the weight room to get back.”

The Hornets will face Ramsay in one of the two class 5A state semifinals Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.