Hoover coach Scott Ware was asked a rhetorical question in the press conference following Thursday’s Class 7A state semifinal game.

That question: Is it good to have DeWayne Brown on your team?

He gave a simple and perfect response that wasn’t really needed.

“Absolutely.”

The 6-foot-9 Brown scored 28 points and had 8 rebounds as No. 3 Hoover pulled away from No. 4 Central-Phenix City in the final minutes for a 57-49 win at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.

The win sends the Bucs (29-3) back into Saturday’s state championship game where they will have a chance to pull off a title repeat. Last year, Hoover beat Central in the championship game.

“I could elaborate all day,” Ware said in response to the Brown question.

No need. The junior center dominated inside throughout the day and even hit a pair of 3-pointers to help his team’s cause.

“It’s something I’ve been working on for a while,” Brown said of his outside shot. “I just had to gain confidence. Coach told me, ‘If you are going to shoot it, shoot it. Stop playing around.’ So, I did.”

Despite Brown’s inside presence – and newfound outside shooting touch – Hoover found itself in a tight contest with the Red Devils. The game was tied 45-45 after Willie Townsend’s 3-pointer with 5:12 left.

The Bucs responded with a 9-0 run that included a Salim London putback, two baskets by Seneca Robinson and a three-point play by Austin Dudley to push the lead back to 54-45 with 3:38 left.

“I have so much respect for Central-Phenix City,” Ware said. “I thought they had a great plan early. At the half, we talked about missing a lot of bunnies. We talked about being tougher. I thought they were the tougher team in the first half. I thought we were the tougher team in the second half.”

The Red Devils (27-7) had one more run in them. Jacoby Hill scored twice, cutting the deficit to 54-49. Central then had two consecutive chances to get within one possession, but Hill missed a jumper and Brown deflected an alley-oop that resulted in a London dunk on the other end.

Ballgame.

“He’s a Power 5 player and just made the play,” Central coach Charles Burkett said. “That was a critical point, but you can point to so many things. I thought we played well enough defensively to win the game and that was our focus. We just didn’t shoot the ball as well as we normally do and had several rim out. I’m satisfied with our effort. It just didn’t go our way.”

Star of the game: Brown was 10-of-16 from the field, 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 6-of-10 from the foul line.

“He’s the engine,” Burkett said. “If you take him off the floor, I think we are the better team. He brings that much attention.”

Stat sheet: Hoover – London finished with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. Central – Hill scored 15 to go with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and a pair of steals. Dezmond Williams scored 12 and Bryce Dawson had 9.

By the numbers: Central was 20-of-51 from the field, 5-of-18 from 3 and 4-of-7 from the foul line. Hoover was 21-of-42 from the field, 3-of-8 from 3 and 12-of-19 from the foul line. Hoover had a slight 31-29 rebounding edge, resulting a 9-2 edge in second-chance points.

Did you know? Hoover will play for its third state title since 2015 on Saturday.

Coachspeak:

“Our thing is when people start pressuring us and running and jumping, we want to attack as well. We want to get it out and go get an easy one when we can. We call it playing hot and cold. If it’s hot, take the shot. If it’s cold back it out and wait for it to develop.” – Ware on London’s game-defining dunk.

They said it:

“We are here for a reason. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump today. Overall, we played well. There were just some critical mistakes down the stretch that would have given us a better chance of winning.” – Burkett.

“Six of our top seven guys are back next year, so we are not done. Hopefully, the third time is the charm.” – Burkett on making a possible third straight trip to the final four in 2025.

“It feels great to be back. Next year, I feel like we will be back again. We just can’t make the same mistakes.” – Hill.

Next up: Hoover will play No. 1 Huntsville or Enterprise at 5:45 p.m. Saturday for the state championship.