Basketball season may be officially over, but The Herald is planning a special tribute section to the three teams who made the state tournament.

Catch the special section on the Spring Garden girls, Sand Rock and Piedmont boys in next week’s edition.

For those wanting to purchase a congratulatory advertisement, please call Vickie Robinson at 927-5037.

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Speaking of special honors, the Cherokee County Warrior football team will be formally presented with their 2009 Class 4A state championship rings during a ceremony at Warrior Stadium on March 19.

A fireworks show will accompany the presentation, which is open to the public. If rain is in the forecast, the ceremony will be held in the school gym.

Cherokee County defeated Jackson 31-27 back on Dec. 4 at Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium for its first state title.

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Although Cherokee County’s three area basketball teams couldn't come away with a state title, three of those teams’ players were recognized on their respective classes all-tournament teams.

Spring Garden’s Tara Mullinax was named to the Class 1A Girls All-Tournament Team. Mullinax led the Lady Panthers with 24 points and eight rebounds in a 51-49 overtime loss to Sunshine during last Tuesday's 1A girls semifinals.

Sand Rock's Brannon Burt earned a spot on the Class 2A Boys All-Tournament Team. Burt scored 24 points (including 5 3-pointers) and grabbed six rebounds in the Wildcats’ 59-54 semifinal loss to Pickens County on Tuesday.

Piedmont’s Matt Craig was chosen to the Class 3A Boys All-Tournament Team. Craig led Piedmont with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in the Bulldogs’ 46-41 semifinal loss to Greene County on Wednesday.

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Talk about doubling up the hardwood fun.

Four schools had both their boys and girls teams playing in Birmingham at the state tournament. The four were Class 1A J.F. Shields, Class 3A Madison Academy, Class 5A LeFlore and Class 6A Bob Jones. However, none of the four were able to pull off both boys and girls championships.

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There were a lot of familiar boys and girls teams at the state tournament at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Complex last week. Class 6A Central-Phenix City’s boys made their 18th state tournament appearance this week. Class 1A J.F. Shields, Class 4A Anniston and Class 5A LeFlore all made their 16th state tournament appearances.

While those appearances are certainly impressive, the boys’ program which has appeared the most at the state tournament is Selma (37 appearances). Montgomery's Sidney Lanier has 34 appearances, while Murphy out of Mobile has 33.

In the girls state tournament, Class 3A T.R. Miller made its 15th appearance at state, just one short of Lauderdale County's girls record of 16 state tournament appearances. Class 5A Carver-Montgomery and Class 6A Hoover both made their 13th appearances.

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Here’s even more proof that polls really have little meaning.

Of the 48 boys and girls teams playing at the state tournament in Birmingham last week, nine were not ranked in the final Alabama Sportswriters Association basketball poll of the season.

Five boys teams who weren’t ranked were Class 1A Parkway Christian, Class 2A Houston County, Class 3A Central-Hayneville, and Class 6As Baker and Bob Jones. Bob Jones went on to win the 6A title over top-ranked Homewood, 61-45.

The four girls teams who made the tournament and weren’t ranked at season’s end were Class 2A R.C. Hatch, Class 4A DAR, Class 5A Carver-Montgomery and Class 6A Jeff Davis.

On the flip side, the ASWA did have six teams ranked No. 1 in the final poll of the season make it to the state tournament. The three top-ranked boys teams who made the state tournament were Class 1A R.A. Hubbard, Class 4A Anniston and Class 6A Homewood. None of those No. 1 teams won state titles.

The three top-ranked girls teams who made the state tournament were Class 1A J.F. Shields, Class 3A Madison Academy and Class 6A Hoover.

Both J.F. Shields and Hoover's girls team won state championships.

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The Gaylesville youth basketball teams competed in the Chattooga County, Ga. Youth Basketball Recreational League this season, which ran from January through mid-February. The teams competed against others from Menlo, Lyerly, Summerville and Trion.

Of the seven Gaylesville teams, the 13-14-year-old boys team was the most successful, posting a 7-1 record and winning the league championship.

Gaylesville Youth Basketball wishes to thank the coaches and league coordinator Barry Cavin for their time and efforts to the program.

Pictures of the Gaylesville teams can be found on Page 3B of this week’s edition of The Herald.