Hoover girls down Hazel Green to end longest AHSAA winning streak
Hoover used an aggressive zone defense and hot-shooting Reniya Kelly to down Hazel Green 52-38 and end the longest winning streak in AHSAA history.
Class 7A top-ranked and defending champion Hoover (29-1) held Class 6A top-ranked Hazel Green (28-1) to three second quarter points and never trailed thereafter.
The victory stopped Hazel Green’s streak of 87 straight wins, including two over the Bucs in the past two seasons.
“It was a good win over a good program,” said Hoover coach Krystle Johnson. “I thought our zone was good. It made it difficult for them to find shots.”
The loss marked the first for Hazel Green since Dec. 19, 2020, falling to Ensworth (Tenn.). The Trojans hadn’t lost an instate game since Ramsay on Jan. 25, during the 2019-2020 season.
“It was a great high school girls basketball game,” said Hazel Green coach Tim Miller. “I thought Reniya and Leah (Brooks) went toe-to-toe tonight. Their role players played better than our role players.”
Kelly scored a game-high 24 points for the Buccaneers while senior guard Etchison added 10 points. Kelly’s ability to control the tempo helped secure the win for the Bucs.
“Honestly, it’s about pride,” Kelly said. “We came into this game wanting to beat them and wanting to destroy their record so we did what we had to do. I’ve lost to them maybe five times since I’ve been here. This is my first time beating them so it’s a major accomplishment for the team and the program.”
Brooks scored 19 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for Hazel Green and was the only player in double-digits for the Trojans.
“I’ve known (Hoover assistant) coach Donnie Quinn and coach Krystle Johnson for a while now,” Miller said. “They were going to make us reverse the basketball and make our guard make plays and hit shots and we didn’t produce as well as we needed to tonight.”