Alabama’s AHSAA high school boys basketball state championship brackets, results and schedules originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Alabama’s AHSAA boys basketball state semifinals are officially under way, and the two contenders for the Class 1A title both punched their tickets to the finals on Tuesday.
In a battle of Bulldogs, Brantley defeated Wadley, 62-47, clinching a spot in the state championship game for the second straight year. They’ll take on the Hubbertville Lions who dealt the Hatch Bobcats a 71-60 loss to clinch their own spot in the title tilt.
Either way, Brantley was guaranteed to get a rematch as they faced Hatch in last year’s finale, losing a heartbreaker, 69-67, to fall one game and one basket short of a championship. They beat Hubbertville, 78-67, to get to the title game, so both finalists will be looking for redemption when they meet Thursday evening at Birmingham’s BJCC Legacy Arena.
Class 1A squads looking to end long title droughts that stretch back decades
Brantley hasn’t won a state championship since winning three in a row more than 30 years ago from 1993-95, but with 6-foot-9 freshman center captain Devin Melton in the post, they have to be considered the favorites. Melton put up 19 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks against Wadley to power his team to victory and set up the rematch with a Hubbertville squad looking for its first state championship since 1948.
MORE INFORMATION Check out the AHSAA’s full coverage of Alabama boys basketball
Four defending champions still alive in the AHSAA’s various classification
Alabama’s top-ranked Class 7A Huntsville Panthers lost in the opening round back on February 23 to the defending state-champion Hoover Buccaneers were the runners-up in Region 5 to the Vestavia Hills Rebels. But Hoover’s 61-54 win over Region 8 winner Huntsville paired with the Sparkman [Harvest] Senators’ 52-51 win over Vestavia Hills meant that it was a battle of two-second place teams in the regional finals, and Hoover advanced to Thursday’s semifinal by virtue of a 62-59 win over Sparkman.
Hoover will face the Fairhope Pirates in that final four matchup, and they have to be considered the favorites now to defend their crown after defeating the Florence Falcons, 66-56, in last year’s Class 7A championship game.
Other state champions looking to repeat in Alabama’s lower divisions include the Jackson Aggies (4A), Montgomery Academy Eagles (3A), and Providence Christian [Dothan] Eagles (2A). Class 5A’s Sylacauga Aggies were finalists a year ago as well but lost to the Vigor [Prichard] Wolves, 59-49, in the championship game.
Class 6A the only division to feature four new semifinalists
The AHSAA’s Class 6A semifinals feature all new faces this season after the Paul W. Bryant Stampede won the title, 66-54, over the Pinson Valley Indians. The other semifinalists a year ago were the Gadsden City Titans and the McGill-Toolen Yellowjackets.
Only one of those teams even made it past the first round this year as the defending champions from Paul W. Bryant were upended, 59-46, in the first round by the Spain Park [Hoover] Jaguars while Gadsden City took a spill in the second round, losing to the Oxford Yellow Jackets, 53-45.
That Oxford squad is ranked No. 1 overall in the latest MaxPreps rankings for the state of Alabama, and they’ll take on the Saraland Spartans Wednesday night in the final four. the Calera Eagles will face the Cullman Bearcats in the other semifinal with the two winners advancing to the state championship game on Saturday afternoon, March 7.
Alabama AHSAA state championship dates
All of Alabama’s boys basketball state championship games will be played at BJCC Legacy Arena in Birmingham.
All times CST local.
DATE | TIME | CLASSIFICATION |
| 3/5/2026 | 5:45 p.m. | AHSAA Class 1A state championship game |
| 3/6/2026 | 10:45 a.m. | AHSAA Class 2A state championship game |
| 3/6/2026 | 2:15 p.m. | AHSAA Class 3A state championship game |
| 3/6/2026 | 5:45 p.m. | AHSAA Class 4A state championship game |
| 3/7/2026 | 10:45 a.m. | AHSAA Class 5A state championship game |
| 3/7/2026 | 2:15 p.m. | AHSAA Class 6A state championship game |
| 3/7/2026 | 5:45 p.m. | AHSAA Class 7A state championship game |
STREAM: Watch Alabama’s AHSAA boys basketball playoffs on the NFHS Network
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