Hazel Green girls set AHSAA win streak mark with 76-7 victory

The Hazel Green girls have won the most consecutive games in Alabama High School Athletic Association history.

The Trojans earned their record 87th straight by beating Riverdale (Tenn.) 76-7 today at home. The five-time defending Class 6A state champions were tied with Lauderdale County’s streak of 86 straight games from 2013-15. They now hold the top spot in AHSAA play for both girls’ and boys’ teams.

Leah Brooks and Sydney Steward have been with the team all three years. Brooks, a junior 6-2 center and Alabama commit, has started every game of the winning streak. She had 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.

“A record is a record. It can be broken anytime,” Brooks said. “And I’m just focused on winning state for the sixth time in a row.”

Steward, a junior point guard, had six points on two 3-pointers, four assists and two rebounds.

“That’s only part of what we can accomplish,” Steward said of the record. “Our main focus is state and getting six in a row. The record really doesn’t matter to us as much as the championship does.”

Reagan Baeder, a sophomore guard, had 13 points, four rebounds and three steals.

“I say we keep it going and we’ve got to win a state championship this year,” Baeder said.

Jaden Toney, a senior point guard, had nine points, seven steals and three assists. The Trojans made 25 steals as a team.

“We don’t focus on that (record),” Toney said. “It’s just motivation for us to keep going hard.”

Amiya Redus, Zyriah Price and Brett Douglas scored seven points apiece. Price had seven rebounds and two steals. Douglas had three rebounds and blocked two shots. Nyla Collier had five points and two assists. Kristen Johnson made four assists and five steals.

“I think it’s nice to have it,” Hazel Green coach Tim Miller said of the record. “It’s great. I’m happy for the girls and Hazel Green and our community. It’s great for our community and the high school. But we’re still searching to win our last game of the season, the championship.”

Morgan Moore had four points and five rebounds for the visiting Warriors (3-15), from Murfreesboro. “It’s definitely a rebuilding year,” Riverdale coach Keri O’Neal said.

The Trojans led 19-3 after one quarter, 40-5 at halftime and 67-7 after three quarters.

Lauderdale County won five consecutive state titles between 2012 and 2016, 13 state titles overall, and Hazel Green and Pisgah could break that record if either team wins a championship this season.

The longest winning streak for a boys’ program recognized by the AHSAA, according to the official website, is 73 games by A.G. Parrish of Selma from 1943-47. Tuscaloosa Academy holds the high-school consecutive game win streak record with 100, a three-year streak that ended in December 1983.

The last time Hazel Green lost a game was on Dec. 19, 2020, when Ellsworth (Tenn.) defeated the Trojans 50-47, and the last in-state team to beat the Trojans was Ramsay, which beat Hazel Green twice, Jan. 13 and Jan. 25, during the 2019-20 season.

The national girls’ record for consecutive wins, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, is 218 wins. Baskin (La.) earned the record from 1947-53 under Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame coach Edna Tarbutton. Baskin won nine Louisiana state titles under Tarbutton, eight in a row.

Miller, now in his 10th season at Hazel Green, has won nine AHSAA state titles at three different schools and is now 714-98 overall and 328-27 with the Trojans. Miller’s first title came in 2006 at Jeff Davis in Montgomery and he won three championships coaching at Bob Jones in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

The Trojans clinched the Area 16 regular-season title on Monday, won their 85th straight game on Wednesday, their 86th Friday and improved to 28-0 on the season with today’s win. Hazel Green will host the area tournament at a date and time to be determined. Girls’ area tournaments are scheduled Feb. 4-10.