AHSAA Final Four: Fairfield boys basketball takes down defending champ Valley
BIRMINGHAM — Fairfield boys basketball took down Valley with a 56-50 comeback victory in Class 5A boys at the AHSAA Final Four.
Fairfield advances to play the winner of Guntersville and Vigor at 10:45 a.m. Saturday. Fairfield's win means defending champion Valley lose their bid to go back-to-back and that their attempt to bring home their first Blue Map since 2020 lives on.
Valley opened a seven point lead late in the third quarter before leading by four going into the final frame. Fairfield stormed back to take the lead with a 9-0 run that saw them up two with three minutes to go. From there Valley made one final push but never got close enough to threaten the lead.
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The game was tied at halftime but both teams took different approaches to get there, Fairfield shot 41% from the field but made one 3-pointer while Valley shot 30%, hitting three 3-pointers. Only one player had double digit points in the opening half, Josiah Jones put in 11 for Fairfield.
Josiah Jones led the way for Fairfield with 18 points while Milton Jones had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jamar Hamilton and Demar Williams had 10 points each. Valley was led by Cam Dooley with 15 points and 16 rebounds with Brandon Thomas adding 10 points and eight rebounds.
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: AHSAA Final Four: Defending champ Valley falls to Fairfield
