It wasn’t the kind of start Sparkman coach Jarvis Wilson wanted during Thursday’s AHSAA Class 7A state semifinal against Foley at BJCC Legacy Arena.

Nerves, youth, or some kind of haint put the Senators in an early hole before finding their rhythm and exploding to a 51-33 win.

“Our team, they’re young and they thought they understood what it would take,” said Wilson, who is making his fifth trip to the state semifinals with three different schools. “They didn’t understand how hard they would have to come out and play. We just needed to settle down and do the things we needed to win.”

Kennedy Langham has been one of the better players for Sparkman the past four seasons and averaged 17.7 points a game this season. Langham led all scorers with 25 points, 12 coming in the first half.

“It’s a gym we’ve never played in before and all eyes were on us,” Langham said of the slow start. “If you want it, you’re going to get it and that’s what we did.”

Sparkman ran to a 25-21 halftime lead after trailing 20-13 midway through the second quarter, triggered by six straight points from Laryn Scott over the final 1:26. Scott opened the third period with a basket and free throw for a 28-21 lead before Foley’s Jestiny Dixon broke the scoring drought.

Scott scored 13 of her 14 points during the run that gave the Senators a 37-31 lead after the third period.

“We just needed to work harder and go after every ball, every rebound,” Scott said.

It also helped that the Senators held Foley to only two points in the fourth quarter.

With a 44-31 fourth quarter lead, Sparkman spread the court during the final 3:48, mostly using the ball-handling talents of Langham, and forcing Foley to foul. Langham made 7-of-8 free throws to seal the win.

Sparkman advances to its sixth state championship game and first since 2014 with three previous titles.

Star of the Game: Sparkman’s Kennedy Langham scored 25 points on 6-of-19 shooting, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, adding 8-of-10 free throws.

Stat sheet: Sparkman – Laryn Scott 14 points, 10 rebounds; Jalei O’Neal eight points, nine rebounds.

Foley – Jestiny Dixon 14 points, 15 rebounds, four steals; Ashauntee Hobbs nine points, two assists.

By the numbers: Sparkman – Shot 18-of-53 (34 percent) field goals, 5-of-18 3-pointers, 12-of-24 free throws, 49 rebounds, eight assists, seven steals.

Foley – Shot 12-of-54 (22.2 percent) field goals, 4-of-20 3-pointers, 3-of-8 free throws, 37 rebounds, five assists, seven steals.

They said it: “We started this season with an assignment in mind. The assignment was being one of the last two teams playing with the chance to win a 7A championship. They got an ‘A’ on that assignment.” – Sparkman coach Jarvis Wilson.

“We did our best. We just came up short.” – Foley coach Emily Flanigan.

“It feels good to be the first to do it.” Jestiny Dixon said about being the first team in Foley history — boys or girls — to get to the state semifinals.

Did you know? In addition to guiding Sparkman to the state semifinals, coach Jarvis Wilson won the 2021 Class 5A championship at Carver-Birmingham and also led Blount to the semifinal round.

Next up: Sparkman plays Hoover for the Class 7A girls championship on Saturday at 4 p.m.