The Starting Lineup

Spring Hill wins SIAC title

The Spring Hill College volleyball team earned its third consecutive Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Championship with a 3-0 (25-17; 25-19; 25-17) victory over the Albany State University (ASU) Golden Rams last week at the Rock Hill Sports & Events Center.

Spring Hill took an early 8-4 lead over the Golden Rams (20-15) in the first set and kept them at arm’s length for the reminder of the stanza en route to a 25-17 win. Senior middle hitter Kassandra Fairly quickly took charge of the action with six kills while her sister Jessica Fairley dished out 12 assists. 

ASU kept the early stages of the second set close as SHC clung to a 13-10 advantage before digging out to a 17-11 lead. The Badgers did not let off the gas in the third set, racing out to a 10-3 bulge before sealing the win with a final 5-1 run.

The SHC offense built a .185 (42-20-119) attack percentage while the defense held ASU to a -.025 (22-25-120) percentage. The Badgers racked up 40 assists, 65 digs, nine blocks (3-12), and three service aces. Kassandra Fairly had 17 kills for a healthy .419 (17-4-31) attack percentage with two block assists while Jessica Fairly issued 36 assists with 12 digs and two block assists.

Libero Taylor Fontenelle served up all three Badger aces to go with nine digs and 14 receptions. Freshman right side hitter Airyonna Weaver did some of everything with six kills, two assists, 17 digs, 15 receptions and two block assists. Olivia Peyton added four kills, but truly shined at the net with two solo blocks and four block assists.

ASU collected 22 assists, six aces, 51 digs and eight (2-12) blocks with Jordyn Terrell earning six kills, an ace, a block assist, and eight digs. Spring Hill also captured the SIAC Championship in 2018 and 2019 with the 2020 season being canceled due to the NCAA COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

The victory clinches a spot in the 2021 NCAA Division II South Region Volleyball Championship to be hosted by the region’s highest seed on Dec. 2-4. The Badgers (30-5) were scheduled to discover the location of the South Region Championship as well as their seeding and opponent on Monday during an NCAA.com live stream of the Division II volleyball tournament selection show. Results of the bracket reveal were not available at press time.

Kassandra Fairley honored

Spring Hill College middle hitter Kassandra Fairly has been named to the 2021 Academic All-District 5 volleyball team in the NCAA Division II classification by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA). Fairly, a senior, has 1,115 career kills in 2,276 attempts for a .389 career attack percentage. She has collected 30 assists, 62 service aces, 209 (51/158) total blocks, and 261 digs for 1,307 career points thus far in her career. The Ft. Walton Beach  native leads the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) in hitting percentage (.397) and is ranked third in kills (3.27 kills per set). 

She is also ranked fourth in NCAA Division II for her .397 hitting percentage. Fairly is a two-time SHC Female Athlete of the Year, three-time SIAC first team all-conference member, a three-time member of the SIAC Commissioner’s All-Academic Team, the 2018 and ’21 SIAC Player of Year, the 2018 SIAC Tournament MVP, a 2019 D2CCA All-South Region second team member, a 2019 AVCA All-South Region first team member and the 2018 SIAC Freshman of the Year as well as the 2019 and ’21 Pre-Season SIAC Offensive Player of the Year.

Turkey Bowl Classic action 

The Reese’s Senior Bowl and NFL player Mark Barron, a former Alabama standout, partnered on Sunday at South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium for eight youth football games in the Turkey Bowl and to also provide 1,500 turkeys to families in need for the upcoming holidays.

Barron, who has been presenting turkeys to area families for the past five years, joined with the Senior Bowl this year and the program proved quite popular, with cars lining up well before the scheduled noon start time and a steady stream of cars working through the pick-up area.

On Sunday, more than 750 turkeys were given away at the stadium. Barron also planned to give away another 750 turkeys or more on Tuesday in the Prichard community.

“We’re here to help people out, helping out families,” Barron said. “We’re handing out meals, handing out turkeys and partnering with the Senior Bowl and Feeding the Gulf Coast. It’s something I’ve been doing for years, with the team that I work with; we’d been working in the Prichard and the Toulminville area. This year we decided to get with the Senior Bowl and touch a few different areas in the community.”

Barron said he felt it’s important — one of the most important things he has done in his professional career — to return to his hometown and help those in need.

“It’s a blessing,” he added, “but I’ve never been able to be here for it [in the past] because I’ve always been off somewhere playing. This year I was able to be here for it and I’m excited to be here.”

On the field, several youngsters from the area took part in eight Turkey Bowl games that began at noon and continued until 5 p.m. In all, 16 teams of youngsters ranging from ages 8 to 12 participated in the games, with Turkey Bowl champions crowned at the end of each game.

Barron was also on hand for the games to present trophies to the winning teams.

The teams that took part included: the Fairhope Pirates vs. the Emerald Coast Cowboys (8 and under), Mims Broncos vs. West Mobile Blackhawks (9 and under), West Mobile Blackhawks vs. Emerald Coast Cowboys (10 and under), CWW Jaguars vs. Maître Dolphins (10 and under), High Point Cowboys vs. West Mobile Blackhawks (11 and under), Trinity Gardens vs. CWW Jaguars (12 and under), Mims Broncos vs. St. Paul’s Saints (12 and under), and High Point Cowboys vs. Cottage Hill Steelers (12 and under).

Thyr joins Jags’ golf team

University of South Alabama head men’s golf coach Ben Hannan announced Hugo Thyr has signed a national letter of intent and will join the program in the fall of 2022. Thyr comes to the Jaguars with four seasons of eligibility at the collegiate level after posting nine top-20 results in amateur competitions over the past two years. The top-ranked Swedish amateur in his age group for three years, he has represented his country at international competitions since turning 15. A native of Lidköping, Thyr advanced to the round of 16 at the JSM Match Play before finishing in 10th and 16th place, respectively, in his final two appearances on the Swedish Junior Tour.  He recorded a 213 54-hole score at the first event after opening play with rounds of 69 and 70, while at the latter tournament Thyr shot a 71 on opening day and closed with a 72 en route to a 216 total.

AHSAA names 2021 HOF class

The Alabama High School Athletic Association announced the 12-member Class of 2021 for the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame last Friday. Among the dozen honorees are three with connections to the Mobile-Baldwin County area — J.D. Shelwood, Larry DiChiara and Jimmy Perry.

Shelwood is the former LeFlore basketball coach who recently retired after a lengthy stint as men’s basketball coach at Bishop State Community College, DiChiari, honored as an administrator, is a Foley High School graduate and Perry is a former football coach at St. Paul’s.

The other inductees include former AHSAA director of officials Mark Jones, track and cross country coach David Dobbs, girls basketball, volleyball, tennis and softball coach Jana Killen, football coach Stacy Luker, football coach Danny Powell, basketball coach Tim Smith, basketball coach Ronnie Stapler and old-timers division inductees Donald Wayne Murphy and Wade Robinson.

The class will be officially inducted at a banquet at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Spa Convention Center in March. The first class was inducted in 1991 and this class will bring the total membership to 377.

Here are brief profiles of the inductees with local ties:

J.D. Shelwood, coach: LeFlore High School’s legendary basketball program foundation was laid by Shelwood and his ability to get the most out of his students, on the court and in the classroom. Shelwood, 78, graduated from Central High School in Mobile in 1960. His high school coaching and teaching career began in 1964 at Central, where he served as assistant head coach for two region championship teams. He moved to Toulminville High School in 1966, leading the team from the AIAA to the AHSAA during its merger in 1968 and remained as head coach through 1980, compiling a 193-165 record. He also served as defensive coordinator for the football team helping the team go 8-0-1 while allowing only three touchdowns in 10 games in 1968. 

He served as head girls’ track coach at LeFlore from 1975-84 and head basketball coach from 1981-91, winning two state titles and coaching some of the top players in Mobile prep history and developing a reputation for his discipline and attention to fundamentals. His overall basketball coaching record at Toulminville and LeFlore was 447-239 with state titles in 1986 and 1989 and his teams reached the state tournament 10 times. He left LeFlore in 1992 and coached at Bishop State Community College until his retirement following last season.

Larry DiChiara, administrator: A graduate of Foley High School (1977) and Auburn University (1981), DiChiara, 62, now an educational consultant with SOY Education Associates, Inc. He started his career as a teacher and boys’ basketball coach at Loachapoka High School in Lee County. He later became the principal, continuing his role as boys’ basketball coach, and eventually moved to the Lee County Schools Central Office. He served as the superintendent of Phenix City Public Schools from 2004-13 and was chief administrative officer and acting superintendent for Selma City Schools from 2014-15. 

As a coach, his teams compiled a 115-75 record over a six-year period with back-to-back Class 1A state championships in 1988 and 1989. He also has served as radio sports analyst for Auburn University’s Lady Tigers basketball team since 2018. DiChiara also served on the National Youth Sports Program Advisory Board and has had a number of articles published concerning school safety. He currently resides in Gulf Shores.

Jimmy Perry, coach: A 1975 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, Perry, 64, is currently head football coach at St. James in Montgomery. He started his football-coaching career at Trinity Presbyterian in 1979 as an assistant coach. He moved back to his alma mater in 1982 as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator and was named head coach for the Generals in 1999. 

He remained there through 2000 when he left high school coaching to join the Auburn University football staff. He remained at Auburn through 2008, serving as Director of NFL Relations and Director of Football Relations, during his tenure. He returned to high school coaching in 2008 as head coach at St. Paul’s in Mobile. He returned to Montgomery in 2012 to take over the St. James football program. He currently serves as head football coach and dean of students. He is the winningest football coach in St. James history (79-35) and owns a 144-67 record overall in 18 seasons.