How AHSAA winter sports realignment for 2022-24 will affect Montgomery-area teams

Jacob Shames, Montgomery Advertiser
·2 min read

Montgomery-area schools were affected by the latest round of AHSAA winter sports realignments, which were announced Tuesday.

The new alignments will be in effect for 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Perhaps the biggest change comes with two-time defending Class 3A girls basketball state champion Prattville Christian, which will see both its boys and girls basketball teams move up to 4A due to the competitive balance factor. The Panthers will join BTW-Magnet, Dallas County and Wilcox Christian in Area 5.

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PCA is the only area school affected by the competitive balance factor in basketball, but there are plenty of other changes on the horizon.

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Lee, which won the Class 7A boys basketball state title in 2020, will once again compete with Alabama's largest schools. The Generals join a tough Area 3, which is otherwise unchanged from its 2020-22 configuration of Jeff Davis, Prattville, Dothan and Enterprise.

Class 6A Area 3, which used to be entirely Montgomery Public Schools, was split in half. Carver and Lanier remain, and will be joined by Stanhope Elmore and Wetumpka from Area 5.

Departing Area 3 are Lee and Park Crossing, which now find themselves in Area 4 along with Pike Road and Russell County.

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Reclassification means a drastic change for Brewbaker Tech, which was in a relatively local area with Pike Road, Tallassee and Beauregard. For the next two years, the Rams will make lengthy trips to Demopolis (102 miles) and Selma (50 miles) in Class 5A Area 5.

Brew Tech's Trevon Griffin (2) is introduced as Brewbaker Tech takes on Carroll during the class 5A regional semi-final at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022.
Brew Tech's Trevon Griffin (2) is introduced as Brewbaker Tech takes on Carroll during the class 5A regional semi-final at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Ala., on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022.

Tallassee is now in Class 5A Area 7 with Beauregard and Valley. Jemison is no longer in Area 6, leaving an all-Elmore County grouping of Elmore County, Holtville and Marbury.

Montgomery Catholic moves to Class 4A to join LAMP, Booker T. Washington and Bullock County in Area 4. Alabama Christian and St. James, meanwhile, are moving down to 3A, where they'll compete in an all-city Area 6 against Montgomery Academy and Trinity.

Class 1A Area 5 now consists of Autaugaville, Calhoun, Central-Hayneville and Ellwood Christian, while Billingsley remains in Area 7 with Loachapoka, Maplesville, Notasulga and Verbena.

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The AHSAA also announced a new classification for wrestling. Classes 5A and 6A, which previously competed together, are now separate.

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com, by phone at 334-201-9117 and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: How Montgomery area high schools will be affected by AHSAA realignment