Prattville advances state tournament for second straight year after defeating Enterprise

Prattville girls rolled past Enterprise 65-40 on Tuesday in the girls Class 6A AHSAA south regional final at Garrett Coliseum. The Lions move on to the state tournament for the second straight year and will matchup against Hewitt-Trussville in the Final Four.

This was the first time Prattville won the south regional in back-to-back years in program history and the fourth time this season it defeated Enterprise. Jayla-West Young picked up where she left off, leading the game with 24 points. She added nine rebounds and five assists to her stat line.

"It's a blessing," Prattville coach Erica DuBois said. "We made history today being back-to-back regional champions. I was here for the very first one and this is a huge deal for the girls."

Entering the final quarter, the Lions saw their 14-point lead cut down to six points. An early 6-0 run to begin the fourth quarter gave Prattville the momentum to closeout the game. Prattville's defense allowed one Enterprise player scoring in double figures. The Lions forced 26 Enterprise turnovers and and scored 23 points off of them.

Prattville's Jainia Misigah finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and a block. U'Llyriah Lewis scored 13 points and KeLeigh Mullens added nine points and 10 rebounds.

"When Enterprise made their run our big Eliza Downey was on the bench because of foul trouble," DuBois said. "She brings good defense and energy to this team so once she got back in the game I knew it would shift."

Making the trip back to Birmingham for a shot at the state title, DuBois believes her group used last year's experience to fuel this season's run.

"These girls learned that they belong," DuBois said. "They feel like they are supposed to be here and when you believe that internally you play like that on the court. The main thing they took from last year is knowing that we are a program that deserves to be playing in the final four."

Prattville will play Hewitt-Trussville Feb. 29 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

Jerry Humphrey III is a sports writer for the Montgomery Advertiser who covers area high school sports, Auburn recruiting and Alabama State athletics. Follow him on Twitter @jerryhump3.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Prattville defeats Enterprise for the fourth time in south regional final