McGill-Toolen rips Blount 65-46 to return to Class 6A AHSAA final four
Staff Report
MONTGOMERY — Tournament MVP Devin McCaine scored 23 points to lead No. 3-ranked McGill-Toolen back to the state final four with a 65-46 romp over Blount in the 6A South Regional finals Wednesday.
The Yellow Jackets (28-6) led for all but the first 43 seconds of the game and rolled to their 19th straight victory. Their last loss came to Sparkman 42-36 on Dec. 20.
Russ Bennett added 16 points and Raymari Andrews 12 for McGill, which shot 46%, including 6 of 18 three-pointers.
The Leopards (20-7) were led by Antonio Jackson with 13 points.
The Jackets will meet No. 4 Buckhorn in the 6A state semifinals on March 1 at 10:30 a.m. at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. The Bucks upset No. 1 Pinson Valley 51-41 in the Northwest Regional final.
It will be McGill’s fifth appearance in the final four in the last eight years and it will try to add its second state crown to the one it won in 2016. The Jackets’ boys and girls teams will also be in the same final four for the fourth time.
McGill opened an 18-9 lead over Blount after one period but the Leopards got as close as 43-39 in the third period before McCaine scored 11 points in the fourth period to help the Jackets pull away.
Except for a close call against Park Crossing in a 58-55 regional semifinal win, McGill has rolled convincingly through the postseason, winning by 33, 22, 22 and 19 points.
