HANCEVILLE – Any time there is a spectacular event like the Alabama High School Athletic Association Northwest Regional basketball tournament gathered for a week at such a great venue as Wallace State's Tom Drake Coliseum, you expect to see a normal and not so normal routine.
Teams like the Deshler girls, Wenonah girls, Tanner girls and Hazel Green girls making their annual tour at this time of the season, winning a regional title, then heading on to Birmingham for the final four is the normal routine, as those who follow the game closely know.
The not so normal can be such things as the Locust Fork girls’ fantastic finish against a superior program like Lauderdale County, a South Lamar team that has not experienced anything like this in a quarter of a century and a local club such as the Holly Pond Broncos, still close to being perfect.
Forty-two games were a part of the regional, now 24 years into the record books with seven varsity champions and seven girls’ champions celebrating for the moment and quickly getting back into preparation mode for next week, when the journey to winning a state championship sends them to the biggest stage of the season, the Legacy Arena at the BJCC.
Holly Pond had to fight past an opponent they have dominated in three previous games to continue their magical run. The Broncos began slow with Locust Fork, but finished with a typical aggressive pattern and have 32 wins under their belt heading into the Final Four.
Wednesday closed out this year's regional with the normal expectations from Deshler's Lady Tigers in a three-peat to the 4A title, routing West Limestone 56-30. A 15-0 start by Deshler after the first set the tone that was too much for West Limestone to recover from.
Once the 3A teams took center stage, the drama was raised to another level, creating an electric atmosphere for the players, coaches, fans and reporters.
Locust Fork's Lady Hornets trailed Lauderdale County by 17 in the first half of a No. 1 vs. No. 2 state ranking matchup. But in the second half, the Lady Hornets stayed calm and took advantage of unusual mistakes by Lauderdale, winning 62-57. Locust Fork was in the Final Four last year as a 4A program, playing in the Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State.
Now the ball club in neighboring Blount County has a second straight berth to Birmingham, dropping down a class to 3A and coming closer to home.
Memorable moments from the 2017 Northwest Regional:
South Lamar – Won a regional title for the first time since 1992, thanks to a game-winning basket by freshman Malachi Oglen as time expired to edge Pickens County 59-58. Oglen began the season on the junior varsity squad. He hit a 3-pointer at the end of the third to tie the score and set the tone for a game that certainly went down to the wire.
Drew Jones of Holly Pond – Playing with a reported dislocated toe he suffered in the semifinals against Lauderdale County, Jones never showed he was hurting. Jones delivered 25 points to Holly Pond's 65-42 win over Locust Fork and grabbed MVP honors for Class 3A.
Matt Cahoon of Holly Pond – His athleticism was displayed in the fourth period with a thunderous tomahawk slam, the best dunk by any athlete in the regional. It was the exclamation point to the Broncos’ run in Hanceville, and now they’re bound for Birmingham and the Final Four.
Coach Emmanuel Bell of Wenonah – The leader of the Lady Dragons was diagnosed with cancer during the summer. The adversity has not slowed down Bell much. The hard-working leader coached as normal for those who know him. Wenonah captured their fourth straight 5A title by downing Fairview 67-46.
Nicole Shirley of Deshler, Daniel Goss of Locust Fork, Julianna Taylor of Phillips – Each dealing with an injury in a game situation, able to overcome the injury and play with 100 percent effort following it. Taylor got cut late in the 1A girls title game with R.A. Hubbard, got treated and was back on the floor when her team needed her in a hard-fought game decided in the final seconds.
Kirstin Brown of Tanner, Karleigh Sledge of Deshler, John Petty of Mae Jemison – repeat MVP winners in their respective classifications.
No. 2 tops No. 1 twice – It happened in girls’ play with Hoover's 46-45 stunner of Sparkman in overtime to determine the 7A champion and the battle of Locust Fork-Lauderdale County with the Lady Hornets winning late by a 62-57 margin.
Saying goodbye – Cold Springs' Emme Willoughby closed out a great career with 21 points in the 2A final, a 66-47 loss to Tanner. Willoughby got a standing ovation and a huge hug from coach Tammy West when she was replaced in the final minute of the contest.
Incredible run to get to the regional – Fairview Lady Aggies in the Elite Eight for the first time ever while a hungry Good Hope Lady Raider squad shook off a season of adversity and reached the "Sweet 16" in Class 4A.
Back-to-back regional champs – Tanner girls in 2A, Cordova in 4A. Both teams put together the kind of effort to clinch two straight regional championships for these programs located in Limestone and Walker Counties.
County returns after an off year – Cullman County failed to qualify a team for the NW Regional in 2016. In 2017, the county had four gain a berth to the regional with Cold Springs and Fairview girls and Holly Pond playing for a trip to Birmingham in their respective regional finals.
Twenty-four years of regional tournament basketball now in the memory banks. Many can't wait for 2018 when it will be a silver anniversary of this playoff format that was created by the powers that be from the AHSAA.
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