High school basketball teams from across the coverage area have learned their sub-regional playoff matchups, the second phase of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s boys’ and girls’ postseason tournament. The pairings were finalized following the conclusion of area tournament play last week, setting up a busy slate of games for local programs hoping to keep their championship hopes alive.
Sub-regional games apply to every classification except Class 7A, whose smaller number of teams sends those squads directly into regional competition. For everyone else, winning a sub-regional matchup is the ticket to the regional tournament, which will be held at Garrett Coliseum and the Cramton Bowl Multiplex in Montgomery. That round of the playoffs begins Thursday, Feb. 17, and runs through Feb. 24, with the state tournament following in Birmingham from Feb. 28 through March 5.
On the girls’ side, Daphne travels to face Davidson on Wednesday at 3 p.m., while Theodore is set to meet Fairhope the same evening at 6 p.m. A full slate of Monday matchups follows, including Baldwin County at McGill-Toolen, Blount at Gulf Shores, St. Paul’s at LeFlore, B.C. Rain at UMS-Wright, Sumter Central at Vigor and Williamson at Jackson, all tipping off at 6 p.m. That same night, Flomaton travels to Bayside Academy, Cottage Hill Christian faces T.R. Miller, Leroy meets St. Luke’s and Orange Beach squares off with Washington County, each also scheduled for 6 p.m.
The boys’ bracket picks up Wednesday as well, with Murphy traveling to Baker at 4:30 p.m. and Theodore facing Fairhope again at 7 p.m. Tuesday brings a heavy schedule of 6 p.m. tip-offs, featuring Robertsdale at McGill-Toolen, Blount at Spanish Fort, UMS-Wright at LeFlore, B.C. Rain at Faith Academy, Williamson at Sumter Central and T.R. Miller at Cottage Hill Christian. Rounding out the night, Mobile Christian visits Hillcrest-Evergreen, Leroy again meets St. Luke’s and Orange Beach travels to Clarke County.
The sub-regional round narrows the playoff field considerably, with only the winners of each matchup moving on to compete for a spot in the state tournament. For many of the area’s smaller schools, a sub-regional win represents the program’s deepest playoff run in years, while larger programs with state championship aspirations will be looking to avoid an early exit before the postseason reaches Montgomery.
Fans hoping to follow their local teams through the postseason can expect updated brackets and results as each round of play concludes, with the road to Birmingham running through gyms across Mobile, Baldwin, Washington, Clarke and Escambia counties over the next several weeks.
Those sub-regional games are now in the books, and several coverage-area programs are moving on to the regional round in Montgomery. In Class 1A play, St. Luke’s downed Leroy 72-33 on the girls’ side while Washington County held off Orange Beach 55-52. Class 2A saw Bayside Academy edge Flomaton 53-47 and T.R. Miller beat Cottage Hill Christian 48-35. In Class 3A, Vigor topped Sumter Central 60-56 and Jackson defeated Williamson 41-31, while St. Paul’s and UMS-Wright each advanced by forfeit over LeFlore and B.C. Rain, respectively. Class 6A results included McGill-Toolen’s 57-51 win over Baldwin County and Gulf Shores’ 51-32 victory over Blount.
On the boys’ side, St. Luke’s beat Fultondale 65-53 and Clarke County routed Orange Beach 78-56 in Class 1A. Cottage Hill Christian bounced back with an 81-55 win over T.R. Miller, and Hillcrest-Evergreen defeated Mobile Christian 76-62 in Class 2A. Williamson edged Sumter Central 63-60 in Class 3A, while UMS-Wright nipped LeFlore 56-55 and B.C. Rain held off Faith Academy 48-46 in Class 5A. In Class 6A, McGill-Toolen cruised past Robertsdale 84-38 and Spanish Fort defeated Blount 70-52.
With those results finalized, the regional semifinals are set for this week at Garrett Coliseum and the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. On the girls’ side, St. Luke’s faces Luverne Friday at 9 a.m., Bayside Academy meets Southside Selma Thursday at 3 p.m. and Vigor squares off with Dora Monday at 9 a.m. St. Paul’s takes on Selma Saturday at 9 a.m., followed by UMS-Wright against Central-Tuscaloosa at noon. McGill-Toolen meets Helena Thursday at noon and Gulf Shores faces Pelham Thursday at 9 a.m., while Class 7A’s Daphne and Fairhope open tournament play Wednesday against Davidson and Theodore, respectively.
On the boys’ side, St. Luke’s takes on Highland Home Friday at 10:30 a.m., and Cottage Hill Christian faces Hale County Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Williamson meets Fultondale Monday at 1:30 p.m., while UMS-Wright returns to the court against Central-Tuscaloosa Friday at 10:30 a.m. and B.C. Rain takes on Sipsey Valley at 1:30 p.m. McGill-Toolen plays Benjamin Russell Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and Spanish Fort meets Pelham at 10:30 a.m., while Class 7A action opens Wednesday with Baker facing Murphy at 4:30 p.m. and Fairhope taking on Theodore at 7:30 p.m.