You down with BJCC?

Yeah, you know me. And if you do, you also know I have a treasure trove of horrible jokes for you guys.

So I’m back in Birmingham, and this time it’s for three games. I had enough of that one-game-a-day nonsense from Tuesday. I’m here to cover two Class 6A semifinals: Smiths Station’s girls against No. 3 Hoover at noon and No. 5 Central’s boys against Vestavia Hills at 1:30. Then I’m taking about four hours of my furlough and coming back for Loachpoka’s boys taking on No. 6 Parkway Christian in the 1A finals tonight.

But that’s getting ahead of myself. First, let’s turn to Smiths/Hoover.

Smiths (29-4) was able to survive the South Regional in a large part because 6-foot-2 junior Erika Jones dominated smaller competition. She’s not going to have that luxury against the Bucs (29-5). Hoover has two imposing post players in 6-foot-2 Alabama commitment K. T. Garrett and 6-foot Kanesha Burch,

Smiths is going to need leading scorer DeJah Heard to get off the schneid in order to have a chance. I’m also informed by Birmingham News Hoover writer Wesley Hallman that the Bucs can apply some fairly devastating ball traps when they want to. And the Panthers struggled with turning the ball over in Troy.

Smiths Station lost to No. 2 Bob Jones earlier this season, 80-32. The Panthers have improved a lot since then, and the gulf from No. 2 to No. 3 is fairly big, but it’s going to take a lot for Smiths to pull the upset in this one.

The Panthers are going to have to slow the tempo, find a way to consistently break Hoover’s press and hope Heard can play more like she did in the regular season.

Did I mention they also have to worry about Jazmine Martin, the Bucs’ leading scorer at 15.2 points per game?

The preceding boys’ game is about to end, so we should have the tip in about 20 minutes. Stay tuned. Please?

12:16 p.m.: Well, Jones has two fouls already, and that means trouble for the Panthers. 2:37 to go in the first and Hoover has opened a 14-4 lead.

Heard is still a little off on offense and she got royally packed a second ago.

12:21 p.m.: End of the first and Hoover leads 17-9.

It looks like a little bit of the shock has worn off for Smiths, and it started playing some decent basketball toward the end of the quarter. If Jones can stay out of foul trouble when she gets back in, it would help a lot.

12:36 p.m.: End of the first half and Hoover leads 34-25.

Smiths is definitely still in this. The Panthers even tied the game at 23 before the Bucs went on an 11-2 run to end the half.

Jones and Heard have been largely non-factors. But Vannessa Peterson and Achaia Cobb have picked up the slack. Peterson has 10 points and five rebounds, and Cobb has 6 points and a couple of steals.

Hoover might just have too many weapons, though. Martin has 8, and 6-foot freshman Kayla Anderson has come off the bench to score 9.

Second half coming…

12:49p.m.: 6:05 to go in the third and the score has not budged: 34-25 Hoover.

Both teams look U-G-L-Y in the early going here. And they ain’t got no alibi.

1:00 p.m.: End of the third and this game is all but over. Hoover leads 48-29. That’s a 25-6 run since Smiths tied the score.

Just too many big bodies for Hoover. And then they kick it out to the perimeter and the Bucs have the shooters to knock down some 3s. Eight minutes to go.

1:14 p.m.: That’s the game. Hoover 58-33. Smiths scored 8 points in the second half. But they did have a great season. The best in school history, in fact.

1:35 p.m.: 2:28 to go in the first and Vestavia Hills is running Central out of the building. The Rebels lead 10-2, much to the delight of their SRO fan section(s).

It looks like the butterflies are hitting for the Red Devils. Can Bobby Wright calm his guys down?

1:41 p.m.: First quarter down and Vestavia leads 12-3.

Central does not look comfortable at all. It is only 1-of-10 from the field, and the Red Devils are definitely letting the Rebels dictate their slow, slow, slow, slow (did I say slow?) tempo.

Start of the second.

1:45 p.m.: 5:24 to go and Central has cut it to 12-5.

Joseph Thompson has 3 for the Red Devils. Vestavia is taking forrrrrrrrever to shoot. Central needs to run to have a chance.

1:56 p.m.: End of the half and we have a football game: Vestavia Hills leads 16-10.

The Rebels are more than dictating the pace. They are cramming it down Central’s throats. And every time Central runs, it makes a mistake.

Thompson is playing like he’s 6-foot-4, which he has been all along. You just forget sometimes when he blocks eight shots in a game.

Darren Daniel has been sitting for most of the half after picking up his third foul in the first quarter. The Red Devils are going to need his handling and driving ability in the second half.

Jordan Swing, the Rebels’ 6-foot-6 Western Kentucky commit, has 6 points and 10 rebounds, and Christopher Taylor also has 6.

Thompson has 3 points and three rebounds. That’s about it for Central. The Red Devils are shooting 19 percent (4-of-21) from the field. The teams have combined to shoot 8-of-37 (21.6 percent) from the field. Eesh.

On to the third…

2:15 p.m.: 3:24 to go in the third and Central trails 25-15.

They had gone scoreless for 5:28 before two Daniel free throws broke the string. Things aren’t looking good, but they’ve shown a little life in the past two possessions.

2:22 p.m.: 13 seconds to go in the third and Vestavia leads 27-19.

Central is starting to ratchet up the pressure and is getting some results on the defensive end. They just aren’t translating into any offense. Daniel has 6 in the quarter, and he’s a huge reason the Red Devils are still in it.

2:23 p.m.: Swing’s shot at the buzzer rimmed out, and that’s our score at the end of three: Vestavia 27-19.

Central has got to find a way to push the tempo. It is trying, it just can’t figure out how to run on the Rebels and actually make it count.

Fourth quarter coming up.

2:32 p.m.: 5:22 to go in the game and Central trails 30-26.

That tempo pushing I’ve been talking about is finally here and Central is benefiting. Daniel just picked up his fourth foul on a charge call that was questionable at best, doubtful more likely and horrible at worst.

Thompson is at the line shooting one more…and he misses. Four-point game.

2:36 p.m.: Daniel fouled out with 4:02 to go and Central down 32-31. He was their offense.

2:41 p.m.: King just hit a 3 to tie the game at 37. Then Swing was fouled and he’s shooting two. Misses the first. Hits the second. 38-37 VH with 1:30 to go.

2:44 p.m.: OK. So 1:17 to go and Vestavia’s Adam Poer is fouled. Then he throws a punch, gets called for a tech (which counts as his fifth foul) and gets ejected. So Taylor makes his two free throws for him. Then King gets to shoot two on the other end and misses them both. Central ball down 40-37 with 1:17 to go.

2:47 p.m.: 16 seconds left and this one’s over. Vestavia is up 42-37 and Swing is going to the line. Hits one, 43-37.

2:50 p.m.: Game: Vestavia 44, Central 37.

Just no offense in the first half. They spent about 16 minutes treading water.

8:08 p.m.: It’s about five hours later, I’m about 10 pounds heavier thanks to Full Moon Barbecue, and we’re about 10 minutes away from the start of the 1A title game between Loachapoka and Parkway Christian.

Poka has made the top two teams in the state look silly the last two times out, and it faces the No. 6 Wildcats tonight with its first state title in 12 years on the line. Parkway (and its coach, former Auburn player Zane Arnold) is looking for its first ring.

Jontavius Willis and Quindravius Richardson got going early in the semis for the Indians and never stopped, combining for 44 points. Poka is bigger than Parkway Christian, but coach Terry Murph said he was impressed by how disciplined the Wildcats were in their OT win over J.F. Shields in the semis. And sometimes, a cool head beats ones that are taller than it. Or something.

Parkway’s 6-foot-2 forward Rashad White is a force on the inside, averaging 9.6 rebounds a game to go along with his 10.3 points. It should be an interesting matchup between him and the Indians’ Tommy White, Jr. (18 ppg and 11 rpg). Stephen Sewell is the Wildcats’ leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, and also tallies 5.2 assists per game. Devin McNeil is Parkway’s 6-foot-1 point guard and averages 10.1 points and 6.0 assists per game.

There are going to be a lot of 6-foot-1 to 6-foot-3 players running around out there. It’s just a matter of which group plays bigger.

Will the Indians be listening to “We Are the Champions” afterward with smiles on their faces or tears in their eyes? Only the next 32 minutes will tell.

And with that overly dramatic intro…let’s play some basketball. 

8:36 p.m.: 3:50 to go in the first and the score is tied 4-4.

It’s kind of a lethargic start for both teams, I don’t know if it’s nerves or what. Both seem like they’re not playing at full speed, but they can’t go any faster. If that makes any sense. Kind of a bloated sensation. Maybe they went back for seconds before the game like I did.

8:45 p.m.: End of the first and Parkway leads 12-5.

Poka looks all out of sorts. The Indians are only 2-of-8 from the field and have turned the ball over five times. Worse, they are letting Parkway entice them into playing a halfcourt game. What is it with these Southeast Alabama teams that like to push the pace, then come up to Birmingham and get dragged into the muck by Hammer teams?

8:52 p.m.: You see what happens when you get out on the break? Poka has scored on consecutive trips by slinging that ball up the court. The Indians trail 12-11 with 5:02 to go in the half.

8:58 p.m.: Poka just tied up the score at 15 with 2:14 to go in the half.

White is slowly starting to exert himself down low. He has 8 points and nine rebounds. Though he could have had more points - he’s missed at least three putbacks.

9:05 p.m.: Halftime and the score it knotted at 19.

Poka has shown signs of breaking out of its offensive malaise, but it’s still not up to the level it has shown over the past couple weeks.

The Indians are only 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) from the field and can’t get much of a rhythm on offense. And White and Marvin Hunter both have three fouls. So that could negatively affect the whole “size advantage” theory in the second half.

9:29 p.m.: Welcome to the title game, Jontavius Willis.

The Indians’ guard was largely invisible in the first half, but has 8 in this quarter, spurring Poka to a 29-22 lead with 3:12 to go in the third quarter.

9:37 p.m.: Well, both teams shot a lot, but not many of them went in. Poka is up 31-24 heading into the fourth.

It’s going to be hard to muster much excitement for the fourth quarter the way this game’s been going. Even the players look a little bored. Parkway is shooting 25 percent after making only two baskets in the third quarter.

But, Poka is still eight minutes from its first title in 12 years. No matter how underwhelming the title game was.

9:41 p.m.: And in the first minute of the fourth quarter…some life. Poka leads 36-28.

That’s a combined 9 points in the first minute if you’re counting. The two teams scored 17 during the third.

White took a little breather - for like a quarter - but now he’s back and making and-ones.And dishing to Hunter, who lays it in to put Poka up 38-28.

9:46 p.m.: Timeout Poka, and it leads 40-28. White is getting deep in the lane at will now. And it’s starting to get that old familiar feeling of Poka: too fast, too tall, too good.

9:50 p.m.: We’re at the final media timeout (that break with this game, so unnecessary - put that to the tune of Jay Z’s “Change Clothes” and get back to me) and Poka leads 42-31 with 3:27 to go and Willis going to the line.

Parkway has not shown it can provide much menace on offense, having scored 12 points in the past 12:33. So an 11-point lead might be more than enough for the Indians.

9:57 p.m.: 99 seconds until Poka can start celebrating in earnest.

The Indians lead 47-33, and barring a meteor strike or something, they will win the 1A title.

The Poka fans have to be the best chanters ever. They’re very coordinated and they all know the words. And they’re loud. That’s always a good trait for chanters.

10:07 p.m.: Game over. Poka wins the state title 53-37. First time since 1997. Did I say that already?

Hey, one more thing. Check out Cliff Williams’ slide shows from all three games today: Here’s Smiths, here’s Central’s, and here’s Poka’s.

K. Thanks.

(Photo credit: Vasha Hunt/ Opelika-Auburn News)

Auburn vaults into 2nd-place tie in SEC West with revenge victory over Ole Miss

Maybe efforts like this will bring on more courtside celebrities.

Auburn mega-legend Bo Jackson took in the action alongside Jay Jacobs tonight. They watched Auburn play an uninspired first half, get a whole bunch of momentum from a buzzer-beating 3-pointer and then proceed to pummel Ole Miss in the second half on its way to a 77-64 victory.

The win lifted Auburn (18-10, 7-6 SEC) ahead of Ole Miss (15-12, 6-7) in the SEC West standings and put the Tigers in a tie for second with Mississippi State, which lost Wednesday at Tennessee. Auburn travels to Starkville on Saturday for an all-of-a-sudden huge conference matchup.

Auburn looked a lot like, well, Auburn in the first half. The Rebels completely dominated the Tigers on the glass and the atmosphere at a Whited-out Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum was pretty dull. You can only make fun of Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy’s checkered past of late for so long.

“And then Tez made that shot,“ guard Tay Waller said.

Word.

Robertson’s awkward shot at the first-half horn dropped the Tigers’ deficit to just four points and provided a spark of sorts heading into the locker room.

Auburn sustained that momentum and outscored the Rebels 23-5 in the first 12 minutes of the second half. The game was really not close after the first five minutes of the final 20.

“That,” coach Jeff Lebo said. “ was a big shot.”

Six degrees of separation: Auburn edition

OK, so it’s more like one or two degrees.

But former News prep writer and current News editorial page editor Joe McAdory brought to my attention the fact that Zane Arnold, the coach of the Class 1A Parkway Christian Wildcats’ boys basketball team, played at Auburn University in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

And his Wildcats are taking on Loachapoka for the 1A state championship in Birmingham tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

Arnold is in his fifth year coaching Parkway, has a 77-46 career record, and has the Wildcats one game away from their first-ever state championship.

Thanks for the heads up, Joe.

A few good minutes with…

Lee-Scott’s Melissa Maddox, Jessie Washington and Olivia Maddox.

That’s Melissa on the left, then Jessie, then Olivia. The three recent state champions took the approximately 17 minutes they had between the end of basketball season and the beginning of their various spring sports seasons, and decided to spend them with me. And for that I thank them.

Here’s a sampling of what we talked about. And be sure to look out for my feature on these three, which is set to run…at some point in the future.

What are some of your favorite books?
O. Maddox: The Bible. I don’t really read anything other than that. I’m not a big reader: I’m outside most of the time.
M. Maddox: There was that book by Chette Williams that you liked.
O. Maddox: Oh, yeah - Hard Fighting Soldier by Chette Williams, the Auburn football chaplain.
Washington: Ooh, Quiet Strength. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
M. Maddox: A Purpose Driven Life. That’s a pretty good one, too.

What’s playing on your iPods right now?
O. Maddox: Heart of a Champion and Champion by Flipside. That’s, like, all I listened to the entire week of States. That was it.

(At this point, your intrepid reporter flexed his pop culture muscles and asked if “Heart of a Champion” was that Nelly song set to the NBA on NBC music…)
O. Maddox: Yeah, we’d warm up to that song. Every time me and Jessie would look at each other and just die laughing, like, ‘We love this song!“
M. Maddox: It makes me feel like I’m invincible. You’re sitting there doing this (bobs her head) and you think, “Oh, I look stupid, but I feel awesome.“
O. Maddox: You can’t help but dance to it.

Do you have any hidden talents?
O. Maddox: Melissa plays the accordion.
M. Maddox: Yeah, my grandma gave it to me and I’ve just kind of fooled around with it. My mom and I will play some old songs and hymns. I played it for children’s church once, for all these little kids. They were like, “Oh…my…God! What is that? Can we touch it?“ And I was like, “No…it’s an antique.“

What’s your favorite thing to do outside of playing sports?
M. Maddox: I like eating chocolate.
O. Maddox: The whole week of States she didn’t eat any sweets, except for one Sweet Tart when she forgot. She was like, “I’m not eating sweets until we win States.“ So when we won, she ate a lot of sweets.
Washington: A chocolate malt at Red Robin.

What’s your favorite type of chocolate, bar or otherwise?
M. Maddox: I love everything, but Crunch was my favorite for a long time.
O. Maddox: She liked it because I liked it.
M. Maddox: I did not.
O. Maddox: You did. We’ve had that conversation before.
M. Maddox: Well, you are my role model, so I might as well.
Washington: Awwwwwwwwwwww.

What’s the first thing you guys did after the game to celebrate?
O. Maddox: We rode home together as a team on the bus. Nobody went home with their parents.
M. Maddox: That was really special.
O. Maddox: And we tried to watch the game film on the bus, but it broke right before the end.
Washington: We wanted to see the celebration, that was the main part. And then it froze.
O. Maddox: We were so mad. It was funny, though.
Washington: And coach (Chad) Prewett made fun of us.
O. Maddox: Yeah, coach Prewett made fun of us a lot on the bus.
Washington: Every time we watch game film he makes fun of us…

Thanks again, Melissa, Jessie and Olivia, for taking the time to sit down with me, and that story will be coming out soon. Promise.

(Photo credit: Vasha Hunt/ Opelika-Auburn News)

Gus Malzahn speaks

Gus Malzahn, as we’ve learned over the last few months, is the opposite of his crazy, wacky, fast-moving offense.

The man plays it cool at all times. We think that’s pretty cool.

He talked a lot today. One big highlight before we get to the highlights. Auburn’s starting quarterback job is wide open.

Sorry, Kodi Burns. You’re going to have to work to get your job back.

On to the highlights.

How’s all that evaluatin’ going?
Well, it’s going well. We’ve got some really good kids and we’ve really enjoyed getting to know the guys. I think the information that we’ve gathered so far is that it’s important to this bunch, and that’s half the battle. I think they want to be good and want to do what’s asked, and we’ve got a bunch of good kids.

Talk quarterbacks with us, Gus
It’s going to be wide open. We’re coming into this thing new and everybody’s starting new, and they’re going to have to earn it. And we’re just going into this thing. And early on you will see some equal reps. As soon as possible, and I can’t tell you exactly when that is, but we definitely want to narrow it down. And ideally, you’d like to go into a season with a guy. Now I can’t tell you for sure right now that that will happen, but that is a goal.

But is there a pecking order at all?
No. They’re all starting new. And I think anytime you’re putting in a new system and new coaches at every position, that needs to happen.

Could one of these players no longer be considered a quarterback?
There could be some guys that do different things, but it’s hard for me to tell you right now. We just have the basic information. Midway through spring we’ll have a lot more answers.

Any way you’d consider a two-quarterback system? Come on, it was a romping success last year.
No. With what we do, we’re a quarterback oriented system, and I think that you’ve got to have a guy, and you’ve got to have a guy that’s the leader. So that’s what we’re looking for. Now at the same time, we’ll have a Wildcat guy that will do some different things, but we will have one guy.

How about that fancy Wildcat formation?
I’d say (Mario) Fannin, because he did it last year. He’s a guy that is real versatile who can do some things. We’ve got some guys coming in that I think can do the same thing, but I’d say with the current group, I’d say Fannin would probably be the best bet in the spring.

How fast do players typically pick up your wacky system?
With our base stuff, it will be a short period of time. Now as far as all the little intricate parts and the details and execution, sometimes that takes a while. But they’ll have the base scheme or assignment enough to evaluate.

Some people think you’re a hack. Comment.
Obviously there were doubters. When you’re a high school coach and you go into the SEC, yeah. I’m extremely motivated. It really doesn’t make any difference as far as that goes. I have very high expectations and just really focus on my job at hand, so I don’t really get caught up. But yeah, there were doubters. But that’s OK.

Does this system require a QB to be mobile?
I think it’s important enough to take what they give you and run it at times. We don’t have to have a 4.4-4.5 guy but we need to have a good operator.

How’s Chris Todd doing?
He started throwing and it’s hard to say exactly where he’ll be. I know he’s planning on going through spring, but we’ll have to see where he’s at.

And Kodi?
I watched him and the other quarterbacks, of course I’m more familiar with him because I actually coached against him in high school. He’s got a great attitude right now. I know he’s been working extremely hard, as well as the other quarterbacks have. He’s ready to get to spring. It’ll be interesting to see.

Neil Caudle?
I’m very familiar with him, he’s a rhythm quarterback and has a very good arm, I do know that about him. He seems like a super kid. He’s that type of kid that has the characteristics you look for in a quarterback, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.

And how about Barrett Trotter?
I’m not real familiar with him, but I’ve heard good things about him. I really really like him as a person. He’s got that ability too where he can make a play with his arm and his feet.

Really, how fast is this offense?
With the old rules, when they put the ball down, we’re going to snap it within five seconds of when the referee puts the ball down. Boy, I tell you what, these new rules they put in last year, for us, are really good. We’ll be extremely fast. As soon as the ball is handed to the referee, I’d say within 12-15 seconds after the guy’s getting up, we’ll have the ball snapped.

We’re a fast-paced team. We’re going to play faster than anybody in the country.

You know, we’ve been fooled by all this “fast” jib-jab before.
Once they get the communication down and they get going, it’s a short period of time. Really the coaching is the difference. Coaches are so creatures of habit and are used to doing certain things a certain way. Once the coaches get to thinking quick and all the things that go into making decisions quicker and the communication, but for players, no, it happens extremely quick.

Describe your career path. It’s been pretty cooky.
I’m used to taking a team and trying to identify the strengths and weaknesses and trying to make it all fit. I do think in a situation like this that can give me an advantage as far as that goes. The only system I know is the one that I’ve been doing since I’ve started, so I don’t know any other systems and don’t have any other information. I know exactly what I want and I know exactly what I’m looking for. And then having that high school background, I’ve been on the other end of it. People say I think outside the box, I don’t know if that’s true, but I know I’m somewhat different than the traditional college coach that may be an offensive coordinator.

Why’d this team’s offense fail last season?
It’s really hard for a new guy to come in and put a thumb on that. There’s a lot of different reasons. I told our offensive staff—we’re starting clean. There are no preconceived conceptions. We’re going to start over and give these guys a chance. I haven’t gotten too much into last season and why.

Can these frosh make an immediate impact?
A majority of the skill guy would have an opportunity to come in and at least be in the mix. That’s our thinking right now.

Would you like to add something more, Gus?
I want to make this point too. You hear a lot about no huddle and a lot about ‘fast,‘ but our goal is to play fast. That’s who we are. That’s what we do. We’re not so much a no-huddle, look-to-the-side team. You will see us do that sometimes. That’s not really who we are. I like to think we’re a little bit different than everyone else.

(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)