GDW Analysis:
BIRMINGHAM: Good Hope Lady Raiders faced three No. 1 ranked teams during the 2024/25 season.
Lauderdale County from Class 3A was the first to see last year's 4A state champion. That was on opening day, November 9 in the Fairview Tip Off Classic.
On December 14, the Lady Raiders played the top team in 2A, Decatur Heritage in the River City.
Friday at the BJCC, the Lady Raiders tangled with No. 1 ranked Trinity Presbyterian. This was for the 4A state championship.
Trinity played very superior to prevent the Lady Raiders from getting a 2nd consecutive state crown.
The final was 60 to 23 Trinity.
Trinity has won three straight AHSAA championships, the previous two playing in Class 3A.
Good Hope got to the title bout Tuesday in outlasting St. Michael Catholic from the Gulf Coast 38 to 30.
Much of the first period was close but Trinity was shooting 80 percent from downtown, hitting 4 of 5 with 3:30 left in the stanza.
A 15 to 9 lead for the Lady Wildcats grew to 28 to 9 in finishing the period with 13 unanswered.
By halftime, the team from Montgomery was ahead 46 to 9, keeping the Lady Raiders scoreless in the 2nd.
In the 3rd, the Lady Raiders started to make some shots and outscored Trinity 12 to 11.
The 3rd ended with the Lady Wildcats up 57 to 21.
"We played a great team in Trinity," coach Aby said. "Trinity can compete with any team in any classification. This does not take away from the season we had."
Good Hope played respectable basketball in the 2nd half, getting just outscored 21 to 18 by Trinity.
Ava McSwain ended her career with 15 points, shooting 6 of 12 from the field and 2 of 2 at the line. She had 5 rebounds.
Jolee McHan accounted for 6 rebounds to lead her squad. Both earned a spot on the all tournament team.
Good Hope had a 12 game winning streak entering the state title game. They finish 27 & 6 and the last two years of coming to Legacy Arena and the Final Four, 60 wins and 9 losses.
Trinity, 30 & 4 on the season and now with 3 consecutive state titles, have earned 84 wins in this span against 12 losses.
Senior Francine Morris was the MVP for Trinity. Morris collected 16, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals.
Photo of Trinity G Francine Morris shooting over Good Hope's Ava McSwain in the 4A state championship Friday in Birmingham.
Photo courtesy of the AHSAA.
