Austin fights hard, loses control in second half against No. 1 Hoover

Caleb Suggs, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·2 min read

Feb. 25—HANCEVILLE — The Austin High girls basketball team knew it faced a challenge in the Northwest Regional Class 7A final against No. 1 Hoover today, but the Black Bears kept it close in the first half after a rough start.

Unfortunately for Austin, things spiraled out of control in the second half, leading to a 61-25 defeat.

"They came out in the second half and got a couple steals and easy buckets. That really killed us," said Austin coach Bruce Hamilton. "Their turnover to point ratio in this game was just something that we couldn't overcome. We got a little frustrated and didn't handle that third quarter well."

Hoover jumped out to a 16-2 lead and led 18-5 after the first quarter. However, Austin responded well. The Black Bears rallied, cutting the lead to nine points three times, including Zyan Moore's three-point play to cut it to 29-20 with less than a minute to go before halftime.

"Our girls hadn't quit all year and didn't in this game," Hamilton said. "I really appreciate their effort there at the end of the first quarter and second quarter. We played some really good basketball."

Austin did suffer a backbreaking play near the end of the first half. With 14 seconds left, the Black Bears had a chance to trim the lead more, but Hoover stole the inbounds pass and sent it in for a bucket, extending the lead back to double digits at halftime 31-20.

"That was a big play for them. We had some momentum and that kind of killed it," said Hamilton. "I don't want to look at that as being the one crucial play, because we still had a chance to regroup in the second half. But I would have liked to go into halftime only down nine."

Hoover took control in the second half, going on to win and ending Austin's special season that saw them make a late run to reach their first Elite Eight since 2016.

"Late in the year we won a big area game at Huntsville where we were down 20 and came back and won in overtime. That's when I knew this team had a chance of doing something special," Hamilton said. "I'm very proud of these girls and the way they played in January and down the stretch. Hopefully we can use this to build on for the future."

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