Mars Hill Bible wins girls 2A basketball title

AHSAA Class 2A Girls Basketball Championship

Mars Hill Bible wins 1st State Championship Since 2005 Behind 7th-grade MVP Belle Hill

By Josh Bean | AHSA

Birmingham, AL – Championship teams find a way to win, despite the most difficult situations.

Mars Hill Bible served as the perfect example in Friday’s AHSAA State Basketball Class 2A girls’ championship game at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena against Cold Springs.

Things didn’t start well for the Panthers (26-5). Cold Springs (31-3) opened the game with a 14-2 run. Mars Hill responded with a furious second-quarter rally and built a 10-point lead just before halftime. 

The lead eventually grew to more than 20 in the second half, as the Panthers, coached by Flora Sweatt, earned a 69-47 victory. Seventh-grader Belle Hill scored 27 points and won the tournament MVP award.

Mars Hill captured its first girls’ basketball championship since 2005.

“We started off slowly,” Sweatt said. “I kept telling the girls, ‘Stay in there, we’ll be fine. We’ll knock down some shots, get some rebounds.’ These girls, they took their intensity up a notch. I’m glad we finished a little different than we started.”

Hill, who celebrated her 13th birthday in December, scored 19 of her 27 points in the first half to fuel the Panthers’ comeback.

“No. 4 decided she decided she was going to play,” Cold Springs coach Tammy West said, referring to Hill’s jersey number. “When she decides she’s going to play, she’s hard to stop. You can’t watch that game and think she’s a seventh grader.”

Hill added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, while also making 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 11-of-12 at the free throw line.

Cold Springs’ Ella Dickerson (24) looks inside for an open teammate as Kadence Rolston (2) of Mars Hill Bible defends. (David Holtsford | AHSAA)

“I’m so proud of Belle,” Mars Hill senior Emma Kate Wright said. “She’s a seventh grader, and she acts like a senior. She pushed through the nerves and the stress. She’s just a great ball player.”

Cold Springs fell just shy of its fifth girls’ basketball state title and first since 2019.

“We won 10 games last year,” West said, “and if you had told me at the start of the year that we’d be in this position, I would have told you we were a year away. These girls proved me wrong.”

Wright added 16 points for Mars Hill, and Kadence Rolston added 11 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

Freshman Ella Dickerson led Cold Springs with 16 points, and Maci Brown added 14.

Mars Hill advanced to the state semifinals in 2020, but fell by two to St. Luke’s Episcopal. This time, the Panthers made the drive back to Florence with the Blue Map.

“We’re over the moon, so happy,” Sweatt said.

Mars Hill 7th grader Belle Hill (4) scores in the paint and finishes
with 27 points and 8 rebounds to earn 2A Girls’ MVP honors. (AHSAA | David Holtsford)

Joining Hill on the 2A Girls’ All-Tournament team were:  Jordyn Alston, Geneva County; Maci Brown and Ella Dickerson, Cold Springs; Kadence Rolston and Emma Kate Wright, Mars Hill Bible.

Championships games in Classes 2A, 3A and 4A finals continue Friday, and the Class 5A, 6A and 7A championship games close out the 2023 state tourney Saturday at Legacy Arena.

For the first time in the state tournament’s long history, all championship games are being televised live over Alabama Public Television (APT). All games  are also being live streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based platform and shown live over the AHSAA TV Network.  The AHSAA Radio Network is also broadcasting all games over its network.

AHSAA 2023 State Basketball Championships
BJCC Legacy Arena, Feb. 27-March 4

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MARCH 3
CLASS 2A Girls’ Finals

Mars Hill Bible (26-5) 69, Cold Springs (31-3) 47
CLASS 2A Boys’ Finals
Aliceville (25-1) 44, St. Luke’s Episcopal (16-12) 43
CLASS 3A Girls’ Finals

Clements (28-6) vs. Trinity Presbyterian (31-2), 12:30 p.m.
CLASS Boys’ Finals
Midfield (25-5) vs. Plainview (30-5), 2:15 p.m.
CLASS 3A Girls’ Finals

Priceville (23-9) vs. Prattville Christian (33-3), 4 p.m.
CLASS 3A Boys’ Finals

Westminster Christian (29-3) vs. Jacksonville (28-6), 5:45 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 4
CLASS 5A Girls’ Finals

Pleasant Grove (27-6) vs. Arab (22-12) winner, 9 a.m.
CLASS 5A Boys’ Finals

Charles Henderson (25-5) vs. Valley (32-0), 10:45 p.m.
CLASS 6A Girls’ Finals

Hazel Green (35-1) vs. Huffman (27-4), 12:30 p.m.
CLASS 6A Boys’ Finals
Buckhorn (28-7) vs. Mountain Brook (26-7), 2:15 p.m.
CLASS 7A Girls’ Finals

Hoover (34-1) vs. Sparkman (26-8), 4 p.m.
CLASS 7A Boys’ Finals

Hoover (30-4) vs. Central-Phenix City (24-9), 5:45 p.m.