Just when it seemed the Jackson High boys basketball team was being dragged into a minefield and a slow tempo it doesn’t like, Roderick Hamilton airlifted the Aggies out of early trouble Tuesday night and sent them back to Birmingham to pursue a second straight state championship.

Hamilton made four 3-pointers from the corner pocket in the second period after Jackson had fallen behind by 8 and went on to score 18 points to lead the No. 7-ranked Aggies to a 54-34 win over Orange Beach in the Class 4A South Regional finals at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery.