New realignments brings change for local basketball teams

Mar. 15—With the new basketball classifications and realignments that were unveiled Thursday, several teams will be looking at a lot of change going into next season.

Chief among them will be Danville, Priceville and Hatton, which will all move up in classification.

Danville is moving from Class 3A to 4A, and Priceville is going from 4A to 5A. Hatton is jumping two classes from 2A to 4A.

Danville has spent time in 4A before, playing six seasons from 2014-20. However, the majority of the Hawks' success has come in Class 3A.

In his second year, head coach Ben Mastin led Danville to a 22-10 record, an area championship and a berth in the Elite Eight. As he enters his third year, his plan to to keep that success going with a step up in competition.

"It's going to be more challenging, but I think this is a good move for us," Mastin said. "There's a lot of 4A schools around here, so the teams we're playing really aren't going to change that much. The game's are just going to mean more."

Danville's new area will include East Lawrence, Good Hope and West Morgan.

"For us to be successful in 4A, I think we just have to stay consistent and not try to become something we're not," Mastin said.

Priceville's continued growth as a city has pushed the Bulldogs into 5A, where they will share an area with Ardmore, Brewer and East Limestone.

"We had a decent idea that this was coming, so we planned ahead. This season we had the hardest schedule I think we've ever played here at Priceville," said Priceville head coach J.R. Dilbeck. "The challenge for us is we're going from being a large 4A school to one of the smallest 5A schools."

Priceville's new area opponents are familiar, with the Bulldogs playing all three recently. The biggest change will come in the postseason.

The 4A boys Northwest regional this past season included Deshler, Good Hope, Haleyville and West Morgan, but the 5A regional has much more of a Birmingham flavor, featuring teams such as Ramsay and Fairfield, the latter of which won the 5A state championship.

"In 4A we kind of knew everybody. If we didn't play them in the regular season, we at least shared common opponents," Dilbeck said. "When we get down to the postseason in 5A, there's going to be a lot of really good teams that we've never seen before."

For Hatton, the move to 4A has been one the community knew was coming for a while.

Since the closure of R.A. Hubbard following the 2021-22 school and the subsequent move of students to Hatton, the big leap has been inevitable.

Basketball might be an easier transition than football for example, but Hatton will still face its share of challenges.

"Facilities wise we're still going to be behind the eight ball compared to everyone else we'll be playing," Hatton head coach Justin Henley said. "It's going to be a lot different for our kids, too. We don't have a bunch of 2A schools calling us wanting to play anymore. There's going to be a lot of teams our kids have never seen before."

Hatton will be joining an area with Brooks, Central-Florence, Deshler and Wilson. The good news for the Hornets is Henley does have experience with these teams. Prior to coming to Hatton in 2020, Henley was the head coach for 4A West Morgan. He led the Rebels to the Sweet 16 in 2020.

"Our kids may not know, but I do," Henley said. "We may not have the facilities and the numbers as these other schools, but at the end of the day, it's just basketball. You only need five."

The full area list for local teams the 2024-26 school years:

Class 1A, Area 15: Athens Bible, Cherokee, Shoals Christian, Waterloo.

Class 2A, Area 11: Falkville, Cold Springs, Winston County.

Class 2A, Area 15: Decatur Heritage, Tanner, Lindsay Lane, Lexington.

Class 3A, Area 14: Elkmont, Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering, Asbury, Brindlee Mountain, Whitesburg Christian.

Class 3A, Area 16: Clements, Colbert County, Lauderdale County, Rogers.

Class 4A, Area 13: Danville, East Lawrence, Good Hope, West Morgan.

Class 4A, Area 14: Hatton, Brooks, Central-Florence, Deshler, Wilson.

Class 4A, Area 15: West Limestone, Madison Academy, Randolph, St. John Paul II, Westminster Christian.

Class 5A, Area 15: Lawrence County, Russellville, West Point.

Class 5A, Area 16: Ardmore, Brewer, East Limestone, Priceville.

Class 6A, Area 15: Athens, Decatur, Hartselle, Muscle Shoals.

Class 7A, Area 8: Austin, Bob Jones, Florence, James Clemens.

—caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2