With one more win, the Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa girls can finally make school history after coming so close the past two seasons.

The Patriots advanced to the Class 7A state championship game with a 57-41 win over Daphne in the semifinals at Birmingham’s BJCC Legacy Arena on Thursday morning. Hillcrest lost in the Class 6A semifinals to Hazel Green a year ago and to Huffman in the 6A semis in 2023.

All five Hillcrest starters scored in the first five-and-a-half minutes as the Patriots opened a 14-2 lead. Daphne cut Hillcrest’s margin to 8 points midway through the second quarter, but the Patriots quickly responded with a 12-2 run for a 33-17 advantage at halftime. The lead was as much as 25 points midway through the third quarter.

“Making the state championship is something we’ve been working for the last three years,” Hillcrest coach Nick Browder said. “This is our first time making the state finals, so we feel like we have some unfinished business.”

Star of the game: Sophomore guard Sky Latham hit a 3-pointer less than 2 minutes into the game to get the Patriots rolling. She finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds – including 11 on the offensive end – with 2 steals and 2 blocked shots.

Stat of the game: Hillcrest outrebounded Daphne 62-34. The Patriots had 31 offensive rebounds compared to 20 defensive rebounds for Daphne. “Sometimes our best offense is an offensive rebound,” Browder said.

Stat sheet: In addition to Latham’s 18, Hillcrest got 13 points from Trinity Braggs. Daphne was led by junior guard Abby Johnson, who scored the Trojans’ first 9 points and finished with 17.

Coachspeak: “This year there was no expectation for us to be here after we graduated five good seniors. We’re a young team. But Daphne is here. I expect we’ll be back here next year.” – Trojans coach Kimyatta Perry, whose program was last in the Final Four in 1995

Did you know? Daphne senior Victoria Moten is one of the top softball pitchers in the country. The state’s reigning Miss Softball has signed with Alabama. She scored 6 points for the Trojans.

Did you know, Part 2? Hillcrest is the third team from Tuscaloosa to make the state championship game this year, joining the Tuscaloosa Academy boys in 2A and the Paul Bryant boys in 6A. No team from Tuscaloosa has won a state championship since the Paul Bryant boys in 2017.