Tuscaloosa Academy’s Danilo Stojakovic was on fire and could not be extinguished in the final period as the third-ranked Knights powered past Section to a 72-56 win over No. 4 Section in Monday’s Class 2A state semifinal at the BJCC Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

“Hats off to this team,” Tuscaloosa Academy coach Luke Hutcheson said. “They had a defensive identity all year and carried it into this game. I couldn’t be more proud of them. They achieved their goal getting here and we’re happy to be here.”

The Knights (21-1) led 35-25 at the half but Section came out blazing in the third period. The Lions (25-7) knocked down five 3-pointers in the first 3 minutes of the second half with Sam Swinford nailing the fifth triple that led to a 20-3 run. Section led 49-45 with 2:49 left in the third quarter.

“There ain’t no 10-point buckets out here,” Section coach Derek Wynn said. “We were just trying to chip away and take it one possession at a time.”

The Knights were able to trim the deficit to a single bucket at the end of the third, and the 6-foot-5 Stojakovic took over in the final period as he ignited an 8-0 opening run before Jackson LeRoy converted the only made field goal for Section in the fourth quarter.

Stojakovic scored 10 straight points following the LeRoy triple and punctuated the personal run on an emphatic dunk with 1:15 left in the game.

The winners trailed early but took an 8-7 lead more than halfway through the opening period on a pair of 3-pointer by Ellis Hamiter. Jackson Cooper responded with his own triple and LeRoy scored on the ensuing possession to push the Lions ahead 12-8 with 2:25 left in the quarter.

The Knights countered with a 6-0 run, capped on a Stojakovic layup, but Cooper converted a short jumper to force a 14-all tie at the end of the first.

Stojakovic sparked a 7-0 run to open the second period, scoring on a jumper and an and-1 opportunity, and the Knights powered ahead to a 27-16 lead on the back of a 6-0 run midway through the quarter.

During the fast break that led to the final bucket of the Tuscaloosa Academy run, Section’s 6-6 Kyler Stewart went down with a knee injury and did not return. Stewart recorded 2 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of blocks before leaving the game.

“We get little real quick,” Wynn said. “We just had to go in fight mode. That’s just one of them deals where your two bigs go down and that’s a lot of scoring to replace.”

Cooper brought an end to the scoring run on a layup at the 3:25 mark, but the Knights carried a 35-25 lead into the halftime break on a Stojakovic layup with 25 seconds remaining.

Star of the Game: Stojakovic. The senior forward posted a double-double with a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds. He added 3 assists, 5 blocks and a steal. He scored 13 points in the final period and 10 straight points came after a 3-pointer by Section had cut the lead to 59-56 midway through the quarter.

“I mean, it really was no ‘me,’ it was the entire team. The way we played, the passes, the cuts, they all helped us all out. It just happened to be me who made the right pass and made the basket. It was really the entire team playing together,” he said.

Stat sheet: Tuscaloosa Academy – Matthew Atkins had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, and Hamiter had 13 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Lawson Young finished with 9 points, followed by Mark Norris with 7 points and 4 rebounds. Section – Cooper scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. LeRoy had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Swinford finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds.

By the numbers: Tuscaloosa Academy shot 49.2 percent overall, 33.3 percent from 3-point range, and was 8-of-18 at the foul line. The Knights held a slim 41-39 edge on the glass and outscored Section 44-24 in the paint. Section was held to 32.8 percent from the field and 25.7 percent from beyond the arc.

Did you know? Tuscaloosa Academy advanced to its first AHSAA title game in program history in only its third season as an AHSAA member. The Knights won 18 titles as a member of the AISA.

Coachspeak: “It was really just making a few adjustments on defense and slowing it down a little bit. We were speeding up and turning the ball over when we shouldn’t have. And that’s a good team, they’re going to go on runs. They probably had five or six 3s in the third period and we were able to weather that storm.” – Tuscaloosa Academy’s Hutcheson

“Couldn’t be prouder of my guys. We dug ourselves a hole in the first half and they fought their guts out in the third quarter and early fourth quarter to make this a game and give something for the Section bunch that came down here to watch us. That’s something to be proud of and they did that. Things didn’t go our way but these guys handled it in stride.” – Section’s Wynn

He said it: “It’s an amazing opportunity we got to the state championship in football, but we didn’t finish the deal and we’re really looking forward to it.” – Hamiter, who was a wide receiver/defensive back on the Knights football team

What’s next? Tuscaloosa Academy will face top-ranked Providence Christian in the AHSAA Class 2A title game at 10:45 a.m. on Friday at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.