Local teams play in States Semis

I am currently out of town, and thanks must go out to special correspondents Darrell and Doug who have written up the action over at John Hunt Park where the state high school play-offs are going on.

Randolf falls in 1-4A Boys Semis

From special PWT-blog correspondent Darrell- AHSAA 1-4A Boys Soccer Semi-final between Indian Hills and Randolph began with a shot at the Indian Hills goal in the first minute and a shot at the Randolph goal in the second minute. Both teams continued attacking both goals with Randolph playing its possession game and Indian Hills threatening on the counter attack. Soon thereafter in the 6th minute of the game Indian Hills player #11, Alex Jomroz, put the ball in the back of the net through outstanding individual effort (no assist). After the kickoff both teams continued playing with great strength, as boys of this age always do. Indian Hills thrilled the fans in the 23rd minute with a cross by player #24, Andrew Washburn, to a teammate who headed the ball toward the goal from close range but straight at the Randolph goalkeeper who was only able to deflect it back into play. Randolph's defense cleared the ball out. Pressure then shifted and Randolph player #6, Eric Ly, almost scored with a quick shot in the 34th minute and player #11, Clark Ingram, with an excellent header that was saved by the Indian Hills goalkeeper in the 40th minute of the game.

The second half began much like the first half with a shot at each team's goal within the first minute. Randolph player #6, Eric Ly, showed his value to his team with a shot that was just barely wide in the 3rd minute and then a bend-it-like-Beckam shot on a direct free kick in the 11th minute of the second half. But Indian Hills was the team who scored next when their player #15, George Smith, crossed the ball in front of the Randolph goal which was not immediately cleared out by the Randolph defense and ended up in the goal from a shot by Indian Hills player #12, Jake Shuford, in the 12th minute of the second half.

Down 2 to 0, Randolph did not let up. Randolph continued their controlled attacks, led frequently by their player #6, Eric Ly. At one point, he even attempted a bicycle kick/shot in the 21st minute, but still no goal. Indian Hills played out the game with just enough effort to preserve their two goal lead, but not without a price. One of their players was cautioned for faking a foul, i.e. a dive, in the 34th minute of the second half. Soon the game ended and Indian Hills advanced to the final with a win over Randolph, 2 to 0.

Grissom Girls Shut Out Prattville

From special PWT-blog correspondent, Doug - The Grissom girls took no prisoners in their state semi-final beating Prattville 4-0. The team started a little flat and could not beat the Prattville keeper from distance. Finally after 30 minutes Abby Phillips broke through and put a nice finish to open the scoring. A few minutes later she struck again and the girls cruised into half time with a 2-0 lead.

The second half started with Grissom holding possession and knocking the ball around the mid field. Prattville had no answers for Grissom’s dominance and rarely put together more than 2 passes. Any long balls they served were ably dispatched by Heather Jeziorski. It was only a matter of time when Isabel Shanteau was released through the disorganized Prattville backline to make the score 3-0. Katie Vallely finished the scoring line by practically walking the ball into the net for the final 4-0 scoreline.

The win puts Grissom through to the final against the arch-foe Spain Park (Saturday, 11AM, Field 2). An earlier meeting in the Lakeshore shootout ended with Spain Park winning in PK’s. The lady tigers are looking for revenge on the big stage.

Grissom Boys Convert Chances to Advance to Finals

From special PWT-blog correspondent, Doug - The Grissom boys put away a pesky Auburn team 3-1. The score line is a bit generous to Grissom as the game was evenly played until the last ten minutes when Grissom put the game away with 2 goals.

The game started out promisingly for Grissom and within 10 minutes some good link play in the middle put Bobby Copeland through to put the tigers up 1-0. In the 13th minute Auburn tied things up by taking advantage of a goal mouth scramble. Grissom failed to clear the ball past the 18 and the ball was played back in and calmly put away to tie things at 1-1.

The rest of the first half was evenly played in a battle of the midfields. Grissom had a couple of opportunities but lack of finishing left the game tied at half.

The second half started much the same way as the first ended with neither side looking particularly dangerous.

That ended in the 33rd minute of the second half when Josh Konantz played through Matt Volz in 1 on 1 with the keeper. Volz slipped the ball past the keeper but its pace put in doubt whether it would be cleared off the line. Bobby Copeland made sure that did not happen by slamming the ball home for his second. Three minutes later Josh Konantz took advantage of Auburn’s failure to clear the area and flicked past the keeper for the final score, 3-1.

The win puts Grissom against Alabama’s #1 ranked team, Hoover High (Saturday, 1PM, Field 2) . It is yet another Huntsville-Hoover battle to claim dominance of the state.