Krista Stricklin climbed a couple of ladders on Saturday.
She climbed a metal ladder to cut off a piece of basketball net, after her sixth-ranked Hayden team polished off Mortimer Jordan 45-34 to win another Class 5A Area 11 championship game.
Stricklin also climbed a metaphorical ladder, as she moved up to ninth place on the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s list of all-time career scoring leaders.
Her 28 points in the finals brought her career total to 3,124 points, besting Alli Smalley of Arab, who scored 3,114 over four years at Arab.
The senior guard started the Wildcats on their roll in the championship game, hitting a trio of 3-point shots. One of them broke an early 7-7 tie, and it was the last time the Blue Devils would be on even terms.
The Cats broke the game open in the second quarter, holding Jordan to just two points sandwiched between 6-0 runs. The Devils never got closer than six points for the rest of the contest.
Stricklin added six rebounds and four steals to her game stats. She was 4-of-4 from the foul line and finished with four 3-pointers.
Sophomore center Katie Parr pulled down 19 rebounds, her second-highest total of the season.
The victory was the 27th of the season, a new record for the Wildcats.
Senior guard Haylie McCleney carried most of the burden for Jordan, scoring 20 points with three treys.
Now the fun begins in earnest for both teams, as they advance to the sub-regional round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Both Hayden and Jordan face very stiff tests, with the Devils travelling to Florett in Morgan County to take on fourth-ranked A.P. Brewer.
Hayden finds itself in a familiar position, as it stays home to take on fifth-ranked Cullman. The Bearcats took down Brewer in the Area 13 finals, shutting out the Patriots 8-0 in the extra period for a 54-46 overtime win.
It was Cullman who knocked the Wildcats out of the playoffs last year in the same scenario — sub-regional at Hayden, same ranking in the 5A polls. The Bearcats won 61-52, pulling away in the last 65 seconds before a thunderous crowd of Wildcat faithful.
Hayden will have eighth-grade starting guard Grayson Taylor back on the court Thursday. She missed the area tournament because she was attending her grandfather’s funeral in Australia.
SEMIFINALS
Hayden 49, Curry 27: On Thursday, the Wildcats made short work of a shorthanded Yellow Jacket squad. After Curry scored the first basket, Hayden went on a 19-point streak and the rout was on.
By the end of the third quarter, the Wildcats had amassed a 29-point lead, and both coaches cleared their benches.
Stricklin had 21 points, seven rebounds, five steal and four assists in limited playing time. Katie Parr added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Mortimer Jordan 52, Walker 27: The Blue Devils easily took care of the Vikings, with McCleney scoring 22 points.
Alysa Amberson scored 11, going 6-of-6 at the foul line, and Megan Snow had 10 blocks.
Local Sports
Related Photos
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Krista Stricklin cuts down the nets after Hayden won the Class 5A Area 11 championship over Mortimer Jordan. Stricklin climbed to ninth place on the AHSAA all-time career scoring list during the game. Robert Carter
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Hannah Padgett of Hayden blocks out Curry's Jerilyn Curtis in the Wildcats' victory Thursday in the Area 11 first round. Robert Carter
Discussion
Class 5A Area Girls Basketball: Stricklin moves to 9th on all-time scoring list
Hayden girls beat Jordan for area championship, face stern sub-region test
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Softball: Chelsea 11, Mortimer Jordan 1 (5 inn.)
It was a loss in the last game of the season, but few Mortimer Jordan players were shedding tears of sorrow.
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Softball: Mortimer Jordan 9, St. Paul's Episcopal 7
They had to hang on for dear life, but Mortimer Jordan has won its way into a sixth consecutive AHSAA Class 5A state softball championship game, thanks to a 9-7 victory over St. Paul's Episcopal.
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Softball: Mortimer Jordan 10, Spanish Fort 6
Bailey Murphy ran into trouble midway through the game and was pulled out for the first time in the tournament, but by that time Mortimer Jordan had built an 8-0 lead that stodd up, as the Devils defeated Spanish Foet 10-6 to move on to the loser's bracket finals of the AHSAA Class 5A State Softball Championship at Lagoon Park.
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Softball: Mortimer Jordan 6, Albertville 1
Haylie McCleney is not making an exit from her final state softball tournament quietly.
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Softball: Chelsea 5, Mortimer Jordan 4 (11 inn.)
It was a marathon of mistakes and missed opportunities, but in the end, Allie Luster's two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning was the difference in a 5-4 win by Chelsea over Mortimer Jordan in a second-round winner's bracket game at the AHSAA Class 5A State Softball Championship.
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Softball: Mortimer Jordan 8, Spanish Fort 0
Mortimer Jordan played "small-ball" to perfection, and pitcher Bailey Murphy was nearly perfect, striking out a career-high 15 batters and allowing one hit as the Blue Devils beat Spanish Fort 8-0 in the first round of the AHSAA Class 5A State Tournament at Lagoon Park.
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Robert Carter: Steve Savarese, you are no James Spann
The call came in at the headquarters room at the North Central Regional Softball Tournament at about 2:30 or so Friday afternoon.
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Jordan's Amanda Dean places fourth in state heptathlon
Amanda Dean of Mortimer Jordan placed fourth the AHSAA Track and Field Girls’ Heptathlon state championships, held Monday and Tuesday at Hoover.
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Baseball: Tabernacle Christian falls in ACEA state championship game
The only loss that Tabernacle Christian’s baseball team suffered in Alabama Christian Education Association play was its worst, timing-wise.
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Softball: Mortimer Jordan returns to state tournament
Of the five local high school softball teams to make it into the AHSAA North Central Regional Tournament last weekend, only one punched its ticket to the state championships in Montgomery — and it’s a team that know the directions to Lagoon Park very, very well.
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Softball: Chelsea 11, Mortimer Jordan 1 (5 inn.)
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