105th AHSAA State Basketball Championships tip off Monday
Hoover High School’s top-ranked Class 7A boys’ basketball team isn’t just chasing a third straight Class 7A state championship. These Bucs are also chasing perfection.
Hoover (33-0), coached by Scott Ware, has won 43 straight games dating back to last season, and the Bucs need two more wins to cap the three-peat with an undefeated season – something no 7A boys’ team has ever done.
“Every game is a big game to us,” Hoover senior DeWayne Brown said after beating Huntsville 63-60 in the Northeast Regional final. “We take them one game at a time. That’s what we’ve done 33 times this year.”
The Bucs’ chase of an undefeated season supplies just one storyline for the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s 105th State Basketball Championships, which tips off Monday and runs through Saturday, March 1 at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena. Each day’s schedule features alternating girls’ and boys’ games.
State semifinal games are set for Monday in Classes 1A and 2A, followed by semifinals in Classes 3A and 4A on Tuesday and semifinals in Classes 6A and 5A on Wednesday. The 7A semifinals are Thursday, and championship games begin with Class 1A girls’ and boys’ on Thursday afternoon. Championship games in Classes 2A, 3A and 4A are scheduled for Friday, Feb. 28, and the state tourney concludes on Saturday, March 1 with title games in Classes 5A, 6A and 7A.
All championship games will be live streamed over the NFHS Network and televised live over the Alabama Public Television network with WOTM TV producing the contests. The semifinal games will be live streamed over the NFHS Network as well.
The AHSAA Radio Network will also air live broadcasts of all semifinal and championship games over its radio and internet audio network.
Tickets are available each day at the BJCC box office or through Ticketmaster.
The Hoover girls are also chasing a notable milestone. Coached by Krystle Johnson, the Lady Bucs have won four straight Class 7A girls’ basketball championships and five of last six. The Bucs return to the state semifinals this season despite the loss of 2024 state tournament MVP Khloe Ford to injury.
“This season, a lot of people didn’t think we would make it because Khloe got hurt,” Johnson said after beating Albertville 84-72 in the Northeast Regional final. “A lot of people wrote us off. We have talent all through our roster, so it’s next (player) up. We’re doing stuff people said we weren’t going to be able to do.”
Here’s a look at several other storylines to follow at this year’s State Basketball Championships, with four reigning boys’ champs and five reigning girls’ championship teams back in Birmingham looking for a repeat:
GREAT EIGHT?: Hazel Green has won seven straight Class 6A girls’ championships and the Trojans, coached by Tim Miller, are back in the state semifinals for the 11th straight season.
Hazel Green’s seven consecutive state titles represent an all-time AHSAA basketball record – for boys and girls – and Miller’s 11 titles is the most by any basketball coach in AHSAA history. Miller has won seven titles at Hazel Green, after leading Jeff Davis to a state title in 2006 and Bob Jones to state titles in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
MISS BASKETBALL LOOKING FOR THREE-PEAT: Spring Garden – led by reigning Miss Basketball Ace Austin and coached by her father, Ricky Austin – is shooting for a third straight Class 1A girls’ championship. The Panthers defeated Ider, last year’s Class 2A champ, in the regional final.
Ace, who played in her first state tournament as a seventh grader, has played in 211 games during her high school career – with the Panthers winning 201 of those contests. Her record of 201-10 as a player is a all-time state record.
DOUBLE DUTY: The boys’ and girls’ teams from five schools – Decatur Heritage (2A), Plainview (4A), Vigor (5A), Hoover (7A) and Central-Phenix City (7A) – advanced to the 2025 state semifinals. Hoover swept the Class 7A boys’ and girls’ titles in 2023 and 2024.
TWO OF A KIND: Fairfield won the Class 5A boys’ championship last season and is back in the state semifinals in Class 4A this year. Reigning Class 4A champ Jackson also advanced to Birmingham, leaving two champs among the final four teams in Class 5A. And in the Northeast Regional Class 1A girls’ finals, defending 1A state champion Spring Garden beat last year’s Class 2A state champion Ider in a hard-fought battle before one of the largest crowds in regional history at Jacksonville State University’s Pete Mathews Coliseum.
In a similar fashion, Trinity Presbyterian has won the last two Class 3A girls’ championships and moved up to Class 4A this season. Reigning Class 4A girls’ champ Good Hope is also back in Birmingham.
MOVING UP: In Class 3A boys’ bracket, reigning Class 2A boys’ champ Mars Hill Bible advanced to the state semifinals.
2025 AHSAA STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
At the BJCC Legacy Arena, Birmingham
February 24-March 1, 2025
MONDAY, FEB. 24 SCHEDULE
CLASS 1A GIRLS
1A NW Q: Brilliant (23-11) vs. 1A South Q: McIntosh (25-7), Monday, Feb., 24, 9 a.m.
1A NE Q: Spring Garden (34-1) vs. 1A Central Q: R.C. Hatch (25-3), Monday, Feb. 24, noon
Class 1A Girls’ Championship
Thursday, Feb. 27, 4 p.m.
CLASS 1A BOYS
1A NW Q: Hubbertville (25-6) vs. 1A South Q: Brantley (23-4), Monday, Feb., 24, 10:30 a.m.
1A NE Q: Oakwood Adventist (25-8) vs. 1A Central Q: R.C. Hatch (22-4), Monday, Feb. 24, 1:30 p.m.
Class 1A Boys’ Championship
Thursday, Feb. 27, 5:45 p.m.
CLASS 2A GIRLS
2A NW Q: Decatur Heritage (27-7) vs. 2A South Q: Abbeville (24-1), Monday, Feb., 24, 3 p.m.
2A NE Q: Pisgah (20-8) vs. 2A Central Q: Highland Home (23-8) , Monday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m.
Class 2A Girls’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 9 a.m.
CLASS 2A BOYS
2A NW Q: Decatur Heritage (21-8) vs. 2A South Q: Providence Christian (28-2), Monday, Feb. 24, 4:30 p.m.
2A NE Q: Section (25-6) vs. 2A Central Q: Tuscaloosa Academy (20-1), Monday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m.
Class 2A Boys’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 10:45 a.m.
TUESDAY, FEB. 25 SCHEDULE
CLASS 3A GIRLS
3A NW Q: Lauderdale County (33-1) vs. 3A South Qualifier: T.R. Miller (25-1), Tuesday, Feb., 25, 9 a.m.
3A NE Q: Sylvania (18-14) vs. 3A Central Qualifier: Saint James (33-2), Tuesday, Feb. 25, noon
Class 3A Girls’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 12:30 p.m.
CLASS 3A BOYS
3A NW Q: Mars Hill Bible (23-8) vs. 3A South Qualifier: Houston Academy (19-4), Tuesday, Feb., 25, 10:30 a.m.
3A NE Q: Glencoe (25-7) vs. 3A Central Qualifier: Montgomery Academy (32-2), Tuesday, Feb. 25, 1:30 p.m.
Class 3A Boys’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 2:15 p.m.
CLASS 4A GIRLS
4A NW Q: Good Hope (27-5) vs. 4A South Q: St. Michael Catholic (23-3), Tuesday, Feb., 25, 3 p.m.
4A NE Q: Plainview (30-5) vs. 4A Central Q: Trinity Presbyterian (29-4), Tuesday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m.
Class 4A Girls’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 4 p.m.
CLASS 4A BOYS
4A NW Q: Brooks (26-9) vs. 4A South Q: Jackson (21-4), Tuesday, Feb., 25, 4:30 p.m.
4A NE Q: Plainview (29-6) vs. 4A Central Q: Fairfield (30-4), Tuesday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m.
Class 4A Boys’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 5:45 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26 SCHEDULE
CLASS 5A GIRLS
5A NW Q: Scottsboro (27-5) vs. 5A South Q: Vigor (23-10), Wednesday, Feb. 26, 3 p.m.
5A NE Q: Ramsay (28-7) vs. 5A Central Q: Marbury (20-6), Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m.
Class 5A Girls’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 9 a.m.
CLASS 5A BOYS
5A NW Q: Guntersville (23-9) vs. 5A South Q: Vigor (18-9), Wednesday, Feb. 26, 4:30 p.m.
5A NE Q: Wenonah (26-8) vs. 5A Central Q: Sylacauga (29-3), Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Class 5A Boys’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 10:45 a.m.
CLASS 6A GIRLS
6A NW Q: Hazel Green (27-8) vs. 5A South Q: Park Crossing (32-1), Wednesday, Feb. 26, 9 a.m.
6A NE Q: Mountain Brook (25-6) vs. 5A Central Q: Chelsea (26-8), Wednesday, Feb. 26, noon
Class 6A Girls’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 12:30 p.m.
CLASS 6A BOYS
6A NW Q: Pinson Valley (21-8) vs. 6A South Q: McGill-Toolen Catholic (22-8), Wednesday, Feb., 26, 10:30 a.m.
6A NE Q: Gadsden City (22-11) vs. 6A Central Q: Paul Bryant (25-7), Wednesday, Feb. 26, 1:30 p.m.
Class 6A Boys’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 2:15 p.m.
THURDAY, FEB. 27 SCHEDULE
CLASS 7A GIRLS
7A NW Q: Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (32-2) vs. 7A South Q: Daphne (22-8),Thursday, Feb. 27, 9 a.m.
7A NE Q: Hoover (30-4) vs. 7A Central Q: Central-Phenix City (22-5), Thursday, Feb. 27, noon
Class 7A Girls’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 4 p.m.
CLASS 7A BOYS
7A NW Q: Florence (25-7) vs. 7A South Q: Fairhope (19-9), Thursday, Feb. 27, 10:30 a.m.
7A NE Q: Hoover (33-0) vs. 7A Central Q: Central-Phenix City (30-4), Thursday, Feb. 27, 1:30 p.m.
Class 7A Boys’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 5:45 a.m.
AHSAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS FINALS SCHEDULE
Class 1A Girls’ Championship
Thursday Feb. 27, 4 p.m.
Class 1A Boys’ Championship
Thursday, Feb. 27, 5:45 p.m.
Class 2A Girls’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 9 a.m.
Class 2A Boys’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 10:45 a.m.
Class 3A Girls’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 12:30 p.m.
Class 3A Boys’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 2:15 p.m.
Class 4A Girls’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 4 p.m.
Class 4A Boys’ Championship
Friday, Feb. 28, 5:45 p.m.
Class 5A Girls’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 9 a.m.
Class 5A Boys’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 10:45 a.m.
Class 6A Girls’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 12:30 p.m.
Class 6A Boys’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 2:15 p.m.
Class 7A Girls’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 4 p.m.
Class 7A Boys’ Championship
Saturday, March 1, 5:45 p.m.
