The 1A Girls had no plans to disappoint in the opening game of the 2017 AHSAA Finals Basketball Tournament at the BJCC-Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Monday. The Central Region Champion Westminster Knights squared off in a tight matchup against the Northwest Region Champion R.A. Hubbard Chiefs, with the Hubbard girls fighting off the hometown favorite Westminster team to secure an upset 48-44 win and one last contest: the 1A Girls State Championship game.

The 9th ranked Westminster Knights (21-6) had plenty of opportunity to pull away from the eventual winners, including a fantastic 3rd period which saw them outscore the Chiefs 15-8 after coming out of halftime down by just 3, but the resiliency of R.A. Hubbard (21-8) showed itself in a tight 4th period off of the back of 14 made free throws.

For Westminster, the big part of their game came from Morgan White, who finished with a team high 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal. Megan Gache turned out a team high performance in both rebounds (9) and assists (5), while the team’s block leader was Anna Richburg (7).

And then for R.A. Hubbard, the Chiefs were led by Charm Sausberry who ended with a team high 11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. A’Nautica Bibbs grabbed team highs in rebounds (13) and steals (5), and Alexandria Orr had a team high performance with assists (5).

While Westminster saw their season end, R.A. Hubbard now awaits the winner of the Spring Garden-J.F. Shields game playing Monday at Noon, with both semifinal victors squaring off for the 1A girls title on Thursday at 4:00 PM.

-Ty Storey