BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WALA) - Nine local basketball teams stepped into the semifinal round of the AHSAA tournament. After today only six remain. Let's find out who's still on the hunt for that Blue Map Trophy and whose season has come to an end.
In 3A it was Tigers versus Tigers. The T.R. Miller girls took on Lauderdale County and fell 58-42 in Birmingham as their postseason run comes to a close. Next to take the court, in the 4A girls' semifinals was St. Michael who went head-to-head with Good Hope in the Cardinals first Final Four appearance in program history. The Cards lost in a close one, 38-30 and their history making season comes to an end.
In 4A boys, the reigning state champion, Jackson, faced Brooks and this one went down to the wire. It was all tied up at 34 with less than a minute to play, and Jackson forced two turnovers to seal the deal late in the game. The Aggies are headed to the finals in back-to-back seasons, hanging on to beat the Lions 37-34. Jackson will face Plainview on Friday to defend their crown. Tipoff is set for Friday at 5:45PM.
On Wednesday, it's all 5A and 6A action. The McGill-Toolen boys were sent off by all the Yellow Jacket faithful ahead of their match up with Pinson Valley. We caught longtime head coach Phillip Murphy before they hit the road to Birmingham.
"Our guys have been resilient all year. Resiliency is an important thing when you're going to play in the Final Four. I'm really comfortable about what they can do with that resiliency. We're going there to win. We're not just happy to be there. The guys are energized and really locked in and ready to go"
Tipoff between McGill and Pinson Valley is set for 10:30AM.
The Vigor boys and girls will hit the court in 5A with the boys set to meet Guntersville at 4:30PM on Wednesday Feb. 26th, and the girls going head-to-head with Scottsboro. The Lady Wolves and the Wildcats will face off at 3PM.
In 7A, from across the bay, the Daphne girls make their first Final Four appearance in 30 years and will face Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa on Thursday at 9AM after holding off Foley, winning 34-31 to advance.
The Fairhope boys will face Florence on Thursday after taking down rival Daphne in the regional round. They wrapped up their final practice at home before they travel north. In his first year back leading the Pirates, head coach Ralph Watson has led the team to the Final Four. He was Fairhope's head coach from 1994 to 2006 and now he's back, hopefully leading this team to a Blue Map Trophy but for now, their focused on this semifinal game.
"As a coach, you know, March Madness. What is it? It's about the Final Four. Can you get to the Final Four? Auburn's experienced that recently, Alabama, experiencing it last year here in our state. So yeah, it's what you want. Obviously, you want to win at all but getting to a Final Four is an incredible achievement. So yes, it's big time."