Jackson’s Joseph Taylor drives for a layup against Ashville Tuesday night in the Class 4A state tournament semifinals at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. Taylor found such space tough to come by in the Aggies’ 70-55 loss. (David Holtsford/AHSAA)
Jackson coach Anthony Hayes discusses a call with an official Tuesday night. Hayes and the Aggies were stopped in their quest for a third straight state title with a 70-55 loss to Ashville in Birmingham. (David Holtsford/AHSAA)
Jackson’s Jiquell Armstrong spots up a jumper as Ashville coach Caleb Carpenter looks on. Armstrong scored 19 points in the Aggies’ 70-55 loss. (David Holtsford/AHSAA)
Ashville’s J.B. Potter works inside against Jackson’s Rod Hamilton, left, and Keeyun “Red” Chapman Tuesday night. Potter scored 26 points in the Bulldogs’ 70-55 upset of the Aggies. (David Holtsford/AHSAA)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
BIRMINGHAM — The last two years, Jackson came to regard Legacy Arena as its second home, a place where it felt comfortable and enjoyed certain memories, from Micah Caster inundating the opposition with three-pointers to Isaiah Gladney banking a shot off the glass at the buzzer to win consecutive state championships.
But on Tuesday night, a victorious coach not named Anthony Hayes limped to the postgame podium while the No. 1-ranked Aggies staggered off the court after taking their worst beating in four years.
J.B. Potter had 26 points — including a perfect 4-of-4 night from three-point range — and added 11 rebounds as No. 3 Ashville routed Jackson 70-55 in the Class 4A state semifinals.
The Bulldogs (31-3) shunted the usually deadly penetration of Aggies star guard Joseph Taylor and patiently and efficiently operated their offense to send shock waves across the state.
Even Ashville coach Caleb Carpenter — who mounted the postgame press conference stage with the aid of a cane, the result of a car accident last summer — was stunned by the margin of victory.
“Jackson’s a really good team,” he said. “I would have never thought anything of that nature. We just continued to play hard. I tell the kids don’t look at the scoreboard, just play the next play.”
Hayes paid tribute to Carpenter and the way Ashville slowly but steadily pulled the seams out of Jackson’s royal robe.
“Hats off to that Ashville team,” Hayes said. “They’ve been playing really hot, having a magical season, and they were able to continue that tonight.”
Nothing Hayes or his players tried could dislodge the Bulldogs from in between the Aggies’ shoulder blades. Taylor scored 22 points but 15 came in the second half and 9 in the fourth period after the outcome had been decided. Pressing didn’t work. Playing one-on-one basketball didn’t work.
“It hurt because we talked about a threepeat,” Taylor said after playing his final high school game along with fellow seniors Keeyun “Red” Chapman, Gladney, Jiquell Armstrong, Donnivan Bozeman and Rod Hamilton, all of whom formed the core of a team that was 68-8 the last three years. “We made it back here but just didn’t finish the job.”
Hayes was concerned that Ashville would not wilt in the face of Jackson’s athleticism.
“Anytime you can win 30 ballgames, the pressure’s not going to bother you,” Hayes said. “We knew that’s who they were and we were trying to use who we were to rattle them some but hats off to their coach. He’s done an amazing job in that program. That’s a senior-heavy group that’s been battle-tested and I think it showed tonight.”
The Aggies (25-2) suffered their worst defeat since a 60-40 loss to Fairhope in December 2022 and saw their streaks of 17 straight postseason wins and 20 wins in a row this season come to a crashing end.
The Bulldogs’ sagging man-to-man defense plugged the lanes Taylor usually takes advantage of and Ashville’s excellent ball movement frustrated Jackson, which resorted to individual moves while the Bulldogs dished out 17 assists.
“We thought we could run our offensive sets if we ran it well and executed and moved the basketball,” Carpenter said.
Ashville led 31-25 at halftime and eventually grew the lead to 19 points.
The Aggies couldn’t contend with Potter, who excelled on both ends of the floor. In the fourth period, as Chapman raced downcourt for a slam, Potter chased him down and punched the ball out of his hands. In the final seconds, with Ashville’s fans roaring, Potter applied the coup de grace with a slam of his own.
“We wanted to make it hard on Potter and just try to not let the others have an impact but they stepped up,” Hayes said, as Parker Smith and Nate Huckbay added 11 points apiece for the Bulldogs, who controlled the backboards 42-32, outscored Jackson 14-7 off second chances, forced 19 turnovers and outscored the Aggies 25-12 off those.
Armstrong added 19 points and Chapman 12 points and 11 rebounds for Jackson, which couldn’t compensate from the perimeter for its failure to break down Ashville’s interior defense; the Aggies made just 3 of 10 three-pointers.
“We like to get in the gaps and play downhill but they did a really good job of compacting the driving lanes,” Hayes said. “We just kind of went to some one-on-one stuff at the end trying to get a spark.”
The Bulldogs executed their defense perfectly.
“We were trying to stop some of the penetration, just make sure we sag off some of their guys, try to prevent them from getting downhill and try to make them shoot some outside shots,” Carpenter said.
And now, for the first time since 2023, Jackson left Birmingham without a Blue Map.
“It’s not the result we wanted, of course, but anytime you can bring a group of guys to Birmingham three consecutive years, we’re humbled, we’re blessed and we’re still glad to be Aggies,” Hayes said.
