Jackson defeats American Christian Academy for Class 4A state title
BIRMINGHAM — Jackson basketball defeated American Christian Academy 56-43 in the boys Class 4A AHSAA state championship Friday at Legacy Arena.
Samuel Holt finished as the leading scorer for the Patriots with 10 points along with seven rebounds and one steal. Davis Dare and Justin Michael Allen each added nine points in the loss. Jackson's Micah Caster finished with a game-high 30 points, going 7-of-8 from 3-point range.
Despite a fast start, ACA was unable to overcome a second-half surge by Jackson. The Patriots had built a 26-22 lead going into the half behind nine points from Justin Michael Allen, who was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Caster scored 15 of Jackson's 22 first-half points, behind four 3-pointers. Both teams finished the first half shooting 44.4% from the field, and the Patriots took advantage of eight Aggie turnovers, scoring nine points off of them.
ACA led by as many as eight points in the third quarter, but Jackson closed the period on an 8-0 run to take the one-point advantage going into the fourth quarter. The Aggies went onto outscore the Patriots 15-4 in the final quarter, holding them without a field goal for the final six minutes as they went on to claim victory.
The 2023-24 season was arguably one of the best in ACA basketball history. Under interim head coach Austin Grammer, who took over five games into the season for coach Blake Thrasher following his leukemia diagnosis, the Patriots finished 26-8, winning both the 4A-Area 7 regular-season and tournament titles, along with winning the Central Regional. The trip to the Final Four was the program's second, following an appearance in 2018, and marked the program's first appearance in a state championship game.
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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 Montgomery Advertiser: AHSAA basketball: ACA falls to Jackson in state championship
