Alabama high school basketball: Takeaways from reclassification for the Tuscaloosa area

With the AHSAA revealing its new area alignments for the 2024-26 high school basketball seasons last week, there are plenty of Tuscaloosa-area teams that saw themselves move into new or adjusted areas, with some moving into new classes.

Hillcrest moves from 6A to 7A, while Northside and Sipsey Valley saw themselves move into 5A and Fayette County makes the jump to 4A. Pickens Academy, in its first season in the AHSAA from AISA, will be competing in 1A, while Hale County moves from 4A to 3A.

Here are takeaways from the new AHSAA basketball areas in the Tuscaloosa-area:

Adjustments in Class 7A

After competing in an area with Thompson, Hoover and Vestavia Hills, Tuscaloosa County sees itself remain in Area 5, but now with Hillcrest, Prattville and Thompson. Hoover, the defending boy and girl state champions, moves to Area 6. Not being in an area with the defending state champions will be huge for Hillcrest and Tuscaloosa County, but they will face new foes in Prattville and Thompson, who are coming off playoff appearances in 2023.

With all the success the Hillcrest girls have seen in Class 6A, it will be interesting to see how they translate that into competing in Class 7A. The Lady Patriots are the back-to-back 6A-Area 6 regular season and tournament championships and are coming off back-to-back trips to the Final Four.

Loaded Class 6A

With Hillcrest moving up to Class 7A, that allowed for Brookwood to come in and join 6A-Area 6 with Paul W. Bryant, Northridge and Central. Brookwood moves into the area from Area 7 with teams from around Birmingham, so travel time for the Panthers will definitely be decreased as the area is now full of teams within Tuscaloosa County.

This area has always been loaded with talent, but now without the Hillcrest girls, who have won the area regular season and tournament for the last two seasons, it will be interesting to see who steps in to take that No. 1 spot. On the boys side, as always it will be a battle between Northridge, Central, Paul W. Bryant and now Brookwood. The Stampede are the back-to-back area regular season and area tournament champions, but Northridge remained close on their heels last winter, defeating them in their first area matchup.

Slight changes in 5A, 3A

Demopolis remains in Class 5A-Area 5, but now with Jemison, Montevallo and Selma. The Demopolis boys are the reigning area champions and are coming off a trip to the Elite 8, so they will look to continue with their success and dominance and area play.

In Class 3A, Area 10, which consists of Gordo, Oakman, Carbon Hill and Winfield, the field will remain the same with the exception of Fayette County, which sees itself move into Class 4A into an area with Haleyville and Hamilton.

American Christian Academy to new area

With Northside and Sipsey Valley moving up into Class 5A, then Hale County moving down to Class 3A, American Christian Academy sees itself move from Area 7 into Area 6 with the likes of Bibb County, Holt, West Blocton and Prattville Christian.

Both Bibb County boys and girls teams saw themselves in the Sweet 16 this past season, and the ACA boys made it to the state title game, including defeating Bibb County in the Sweet 16 and two other times throughout the season. It will be fun to see how the Patriots fit into their new area as all teams are quite familiar with each other, with the exception of Prattville Christian which is about a 100-mile drive from Tuscaloosa.

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Hale County to 3A

After competing in Class 4A, Hale County will see itself move down to Class 3A into an area with Greensboro and Sumter Central. This makes for an increasingly competitive area, as both the boys and teams for Hale County and Sumter Central each made playoff runs this past year, with the Sumter Central boys making it to the Final Four.

This area will likely come down to Sumter Central and Hale County, both teams that have playoff experience. The Sumter Central boys have seen themselves in the Final Four over the last two seasons, while the Hale County boys made a trip to the Final Four in 2023.

Changes in Class 1A and 2A

Despite Pickens Academy joining the AHSAA, there were no other teams moving from classifications in the area in classes 1A and 2A, but there were some adjustments as to who is competing in each area.

Pickens Academy will be joining 1A-Area 9 with Pickens County, South Lamar and Holy Spirit, while Berry sees itself move into Area 10 with Hubbertville, Lynn and Sumiton Christian. University Charter School and Linden see themselves move from 1A-Area 6 to Area 5 with Keith, Amelia Love Johnson and R.C Hatch.

In Class 2A, Lamar County and Sulligent see itself remain in Area 10 with Red Bay. Tuscaloosa Academy, Greene County and Aliceville move from Area 5 to Area 7 with Isabella.

Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: AHSAA basketball: Tuscaloosa-area basketball reclassification takeaways