Resilience

Oxford overcomes Latson’s time away after scary fall, Taylor’s foul troubles to beat Saraland, achieve first appearance in boys’ state hoops final since 1933.

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD — Chris Latson’s scary, head-first fall was Oxford’s first oh-no moment in the Yellow Jackets’ breakthrough appearance in Wednesday’s Class 6A semifinals.

Jay’lin Taylor’s fourth foul, coming with 5:06 to go in the third quarter, was the next oh-no moment.

Oh-wows overwhelmed oh-nos, however, and Oxford coach Joel Van Meter got to clear his bench on the biggest stage with 40 seconds to play.

Jaylen Alexander scored a game-high 22 points, and Marcus Perry Jr. added 17, and top-ranked Oxford beat Saraland 53-37 in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena.

The Yellow Jackets (29-4) will play Cullman in Saturday’s 2:15 p.m. championship game.

Oxford seeks its first state title in basketball while making its first Final Four appearance in boys’ basketball under the current format, which the AHSAA adopted in 1994. The Yellow Jackets will play in the boys’ state final for the first time since falling to Geraldine 31-18 in 1933.

Oxford has come a long way since the Great Depression, and it took a long time to get here.

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