GIRLS 3A SEMIS: St. James makes quick work of Mars Hill to earn spot in title game
Mars Hill guard Belle Hill goes up for a shot against Jordyn McRae of St. James in the Class 3A semfinal game at the BJCC Arena. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
BIRMINGHAM -- St. James opened play in the state tournament on Tuesday morning with a 1-3-1 zone defense designed to corral Mars Hill Bible’s top scorer, sophomore forward Belle Hill. While Hill scored her points, the quickness of the Trojans proved to be too much for the Panthers in a 76-56 victory at Legacy Arena.
And one of the chief beneficiaries of the defensive scheme was Kaitlin Mitchell, who had 30 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals to help the Trojans advance to the finals for the second consecutive year.
“Kaitlin did an outstanding job for us today,” St. James coach Katie Barton said. “She got out early in transition and we found her. We knew we wanted to run on them so early in that first half we got some transition buckets that were huge and she led the way. She got out there on the top of that 1-3-1 and found those buckets and late in the second half, we like to create a little chaos and she was doing that with her hands. I think she got two steals off the dribble off of Belle for layups. Super proud of her. On the top of that 1-3-1, she’s called the ‘chaser’ and that’s the tone setter.”
St. James (32-4) will play Mobile Christian (21-10) for the 3A state championship on Friday at 12:30 p.m. The Trojans reached the finals in 2022 before losing to Deshler and in 2025 before losing in overtime to Lauderdale County.
“We’ve been working toward this all year,” Mitchell said. “I feel confident in us finishing the job.”
St. James unleashed its superior firepower on the Panthers early, storming out to a 21-11 lead in the first quarter. Hill finished with 38 points, including 14 of 18 at the free-throw line, along with 16 rebounds and four steals, but she also had 12 turnovers against the quicker Trojans.
“We knew this was going to be a really, really tough game against a very tough opponent, going up against Mars Hill and Belle (Hill) and what she’s capable of,” Barton said. “We knew that we would have our hands full but we know we have a lot of weapons.”
Hill scored all but 18 of the Panthers’ points, while Mitchell had help from Natalie Barton, who had 17 points, six rebounds and seven steals; Jordyn McRae, who had 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals; and Morgan Lilly, who had nine points, five assists and four rebounds.
“We knew that when Belle is inside, she hurts us a lot,” Barton said. “Don’t get me wrong, y’all saw her nail that 3, she’s a great outside shooter, too, but if we can get her away from the basket, it’s going to help us.”
The Trojans came up with 20 steals and forced 23 turnovers to return to the finals.
“I have a lot of confidence in me and my teammates,” Lilly said. “Of course, we’ve been here but we didn’t finish the job last year. So of course we’re going to have some feel in us to win the championship this year.”
Tuesday’s win moved the program one step closer to its first-ever state championship.
“It would be a great thing for us and for our school,” Natalie Barton said. “It would be the first time we’ve lifted a blue (championship) map. So our job is to get that done on Friday.”
Mobile Christian 55, Glencoe 42
BIRMINGHAM - Hadley Kelly scored 19 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and blocked six shots to lead Mobile Christian to the Class 3A semifinal win over Glencoe in Tuesday’s other 3A game, setting up a Mobile Christian-St. James matchup in Friday’s final.
Kelly set the AHSAA girls’ single-game record (23) for blocks in the Leopards’ South regional championship victory last week.
Trinty Jenkins-Gaines added 13 points and seven rebounds while Kai Wright had 10 points and six steals.