Montgomery Academy’s Skyler Stovall had perhaps the most accurate description of Friday’s Class 3A state championship game. “It was a battle,” he said. Indeed, it was. Stovall and teammate Braden Gordon combined to score 48 points as the second-ranked Eagles fought off a gritty comeback effort by Mars Hill Bible to claim a 65-56 victory at Birmingham’s Legacy Arena.

BIRMINGHAM – Montgomery Academy started strong in its Class 3A boys’ state championship game with Mars Hill Bible and finished strong. Mars Hill showed a determined grit and determination in

Montgomery Academy (33-2) will face Mars Hill Bible (24-8) for the 3A state championship on Friday at 2:15 p.m. It will mark only the second time Montgomery Academy has reached the finals. The Eagles lost in the 2A title game to Sumter County High in 2004.

Second-ranked Montgomery Academy rolled into Birmingham and a date in the final four with a rout of No. 4 Lee-Scott Academy in the Central Regional championship at Alabama State University’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome in Montgomery on Tuesday.

Mars Hill Bible boys basketball defeated Houston Academy in the AHSAA Final Four to advance to the Class 3A state championship.

The Eagles never trailed as they knocked off the defending state champions Mars Hill Bible, 65-56, on Friday at Legacy Arena. It marks Montgomery Academy's first state title in program history. Skyler Stovall led Montgomery Academy with 25 points and seven rebounds.