An 8-0 run for Hoover that saw the Bucs bolt out to an early lead was keyed by Aaliyah Blanchard knocking down a tip-in and a pair of 3-pointers in just under a minute and a half.

How did she do it?

“I was just locked in honestly,” Blanchard said. “I don’t know how to put it, I just knew that we needed to come out strong and high energy, so I just did what I had to do.”

Blanchard was one of four players for Hoover to eclipse double figures as the four-time defending champs punched their tickets back to the state title game with a 77-58 win over Central-Phenix City.

Hoover rolled out to a dominant 32-9 lead after the first quarter and led 43-15 at halftime of the semifinal matchup.

“It’s a blessing to be here and be back in this situation, so we’re just thankful to be here,” Hoover coach Krystle Johnson said. We’ve been through a lot this season: adversity, injuries, a really, really tough schedule. We don’t take for granted that we’re back at the stage because it’s not easy to get here. Our seniors are the ones who’ve been here all four years, have been here every year in high school, and that’s a blessing.

“We understand that it’s a blessing to be here, so we’re just thankful to be back in this game and have an opportunity to defend our state championship and get a little bit of revenge.”

The matchup awaiting Hoover in the state title game pits the Buccaneers against top-ranked Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, which beat the Bucs 64-60 on Jan. 20.

Kaitlyn Gipson led the Bucs’ scoring efforts with 21 points, going 8-for-14 from the field while adding a game-high 9 assists in the win.

“I just trusted my teammates that they were going to be there, and they were there,” she said of her assists after the win. “I know every time in transition, we’re looking up. We’ve been working on practice every day.”

Recent Auburn women’s basketball commit led the Red Devils with a double-double for 20 points and 13 rebounds, going 7-for-14 from the field and adding 5 assists. Alabama softball commit Gerritt Griggs had 16 points for Central-Phenix City.

“We knew we had our hands full,” Central-Phenix City coach Rodgetta Williams said. “We thought we could compete, we knew they would try and take Jabria out of the game. We got down early, but I am so glad to see the fight that we have. I say it all the time, there’s no quit in this team. They love to play for each other, they love to play for Phenix City and they really, really made me proud down the stretch.

“So many teams would have given that up when Hoover went on their run, but we didn’t do that. We fought back, and we brought the game within striking range.”

Stat sheet: Hoover — Blanchard finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds in the win, while Kristen Winston (14 points, 7 assists) and Jaliyah Manuel (10 points) also scored in double figures. Layla Cannon logged 8 points and 5 rebounds, while Tatum English had 8 rebounds off the bench. Central-Phenix City — Madison Fuller had 8 points and 5 rebounds, going 3-for-6 from the field. Kandria Mebunge, Danica Todd and Kahalia Moore had 4 points each for the Red Devils.

By the numbers: Hoover shot 31-for-63 from the field and 8-for-20 from the 3-point line. The Bucs outscored Central 46-30 in the paint and 30-13 off turnovers; The Bucs forced 23 turnovers and logged 15 steals, with Kristen Winston and Kaitlyn Gipson logging 6 each. Central shot 20-for-45 from the field and knocked down 4 3-point baskets; all of them came from Gerritt Griggs. Central logged 9 assists and 10 steals in the loss. Hoover led for 31:20 of the contest and the game was tied for 40 seconds.

Did you know? Hoover’s girls have won 10 state championships (2001, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).

They said it: “I don’t think she’s giving herself enough credit for how well she played, and at some point she can’t do it all by herself. I think we had help, and we helped her, but she played the best she could, and with that pressure, it’s hard to get something out of that. You can’t score 40 every day.” — Central’s Gerritt Griggs on teammate Jabria Lindsey.

“We lost to Hillcrest in January at home, a game that we feel like we didn’t play very well in. Obviously, looking across the brackets, we knew that there was a possibility that we would run back into them again. We think they’re a great team, but I think we’re just ready to go out and have a better showing. Watching that film was very brutal because it was a lot of mistakes on both ends of the court and I think it’s the opportunity for us to correct some of those mistakes in January.” — Hoover coach Krystle Johnson on the Class 7A state title game.

“Our team is extremely young and when we talk about impact players, we were playing seventh and eighth graders, although they listed them as ninth graders, they’re really young. I think that the passion that you’re seeing from Gerritt, we were just having our moment, her middle school coach was a very close friend of ours, a friend of mine and this makes this one so special because she abruptly passed away in 2021. When I say these tears for us or not sad tears because we know we made her proud, and that for me, being an underdog and not being expected to be in this space, we will miss each other a little bit, but to accomplish what we did this year has just really been nothing short of remarkable.” — Central-Phenix City coach Rodgetta Williams on the season.