By Ronnie Hagood
HOOVER — Hewitt-Trussville made the trip across Birmingham on Friday afternoon to square off against the 2019 state champions and current No. 1 ranked Hoover in what was an anticipated rematch of this past year’s state finals.
For the Huskies, the second go around proved to be just as unwelcoming as the Bucs cruised to 57-39 victory for their eighth consecutive victory. With the loss, Hewitt-Trussville dropped its second straight game.
From the jump, Hoover took control, and try as they might, the Huskies could never set their feet squarely under them. The Bucs took a 7-0 lead midway into the first quarter and would extend that lead to 19-9 as the quarter came to an end. For the Huskies, it was self-inflicted damage that would prevent them from cutting into the Hoover lead. Turnover after turnover mounted up in the second quarter.
“When we’re turning the ball over like we are, you’re giving them points,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Tonya Hunter said.
As a result, Hewitt-Trussville would trail 30-20 as the teams went to the locker room.
In the third quarter, Hoover came out on fire. By the time the game had reached the halfway point of the quarter, Hoover had extended its lead to 20 points. The Huskies attempted to claw their way back into striking distance, but the deficit was too much.
Hewitt-Trussville trailed by 20 points entering the final eight minutes.
The fourth quarter saw Hoover milking the clock down as much as they could. Hewitt managed to outscore the Bucs, 8-6, in the low scoring final quarter, but a tumultuous first 24 minutes had dug the Huskies into a hole that proved to be unsurmountable
“I’m going to take credit for it. We were not ready to pass the ball. We gave them points off live ball turnovers,” Hunter said in summation.