For everything there is a season and regional basketball belongs to the Hazel Green girls basketball team.

The top-ranked Trojans cruised to another regional final on the back of a 57-29 victory over No. 2 Clay-Chalkville in Thursday’s Class 6A Northwest Regional girls semifinal at Wallace State’s Traditions Bank Arena in Hanceville.

“We had three good days of practice leading up to this game,” Hazel Green coach Tim Miller said. “We didn’t play an ‘A’ game today. We probably could play better than what we did, but we settled in, got a lead, and we played good defense like we do.”

Hazel Green (27-4) jumped out to a 10-1 lead within the first three minutes of action and allowed only two made field goals from the Cougars in the opening period in taking a 14-5 advantage into the second quarter.

Clay-Chalkville (26-3) made two of its three second-period field goals early in the quarter, cutting the lead down to 16-9, but the Trojans closed out on a 19-2 run that was highlighted by Kristen Johnson and Addison Cantrell during a 10-0 spurt and Leah Brooks during the final 9-0 surge.

Hazel Green carried a 28-11 advantage into the halftime break.

The Trojans scored 14 points for a third straight period to open the second half, taking a 42-17 lead into the final quarter, but did allow two three-point plays from Clay-Chalkville’s Kimora Brewster.

Did you know? Hazel Green advanced to its 10th straight regional final and 13th in program history. The Trojans have appeared in nine straight state tournaments and won six straight state titles.

By the numbers: Hazel Green shot 50 percent overall and 33 percent from 3-point range and held the Cougars to single-digit scoring in the first three periods while earning a plus-9 advantage in rebounding. Clay-Chalkville shot only 28.9 percent from the field and 13.3 percent on 3-pointers.

Stat sheet: Hazel Green – Brooks led the Trojans with a game-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, adding 6 rebounds, and Amiya Redus finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Sydney Steward did not score but grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 14 assists. Clay-Chalkville – The Cougars were led by Brewster with 12 points and 3 rebounds, followed by MacKenzie Hale with 7 points and 5 boards. Brooklyn Phillips contributed 4 points and 3 rebounds.

Coachspeak: “They (Clay-Chalkville) had good experience back. They didn’t have their big girl inside from last year, which was key for us because we bring two bigs back. Our execution has been better and our schedule this year was really good. We played five or six nationally ranked teams and that prepared them for playoffs.” – Hazel Green’s Tim Miller

“We know we didn’t play well. The senior class bought in, and they showed up every day. We didn’t play well, but couldn’t be more proud of the last two years and the success they’ve had. Today was not our day, but I won’t remember today. I’m going to focus on these last three years of me being lucky enough to coach that caliber of young ladies.” – Clay-Chalkville’s Kevin Conner

They said it: “We’ve been working hard so it showed. We prepared well.” – Amiya Redus

“Even though we won, we still got a lot of stuff to work on.” – Leah Brooks

What’s next? Hazel Green advances to face No. 8 Hartselle Tuesday’s Northwest Regional final at Wallace State’s Traditions Bank Arena.