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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars welcomed teams from around the region to Hoover for the HeffStrong Tournament, and they didn’t leave the Finley Center empty handed as they claimed the Silver Bracket trophy.

Spain Park finished the weekend of Sept. 20 and 21 with a 4-2 record, turning a 1-2 pool play record into an unbeaten run through the Silver Bracket against the Austin Black Bears, Sylacauga Aggies and Gulf Shores Dolphins.

The Jags faced a tough matchup out of the gate in Pool F as they battled eventual champion Houston on Friday, Sept. 20.

Spain Park made the match tight throughout but got off on the wrong foot as it dropped the first set 25-23.

The Jags were unable to make up the gap from there and lost the second set 25-21 to fall in their opening match of the tournament.

They had an opportunity to bounce back before the night in the form of a matchup against the Class 7A Tuscaloosa County Wildcats.

Faced with another close first set down the stretch, Spain Park took the set this time by a score of 25-21.

The Jags took the momentum from that first-set win to also claim the second set. While the Wildcats made it slightly closer than the first, Spain Park took the 25-21 win to end the night with a sweep.

Coming back in the morning to face Prattville Christian, the Jags started off play on Saturday, Sept. 21 in the right way as they overcame a tight challenge to win the first set 25-23.

However, that would be the only victory of the match for Spain Park as it lost the next two sets 25-21 and 15-12 to fall in three sets.

That put the Jags in the Silver Bracket as a third-place finisher in Pool F, and they drew Austin in the first round.

Spain Park once again faced adversity as they fell in the first set 25-21 to make the second set a must-win.

The Jags stood up to the pressure and won the second set 25-19, swinging the momentum back in their favor.

The victory set up a third-set win for Spain Park as it claimed the set 15-10 to advance to the semifinals.

With a win to get them back on track, the Jags continued to roll in their next matchup with Sylacauga.

Spain Park started out the match with one of their most dominant performances of the entire tournament thanks to a 25-12 win in the first set.

From there, the Jags held off the Aggies and claimed the second set 25-20 to reach the finals.

There, Spain Park would match up with the Gulf Shores Dolphins with Silver Bracket silverware on the line, and it faced another close contest in the final game of the day.

The Jags held strong in the end of the first set to take the 25-22 win for their fifth-straight set victory, but Gulf Shores would soon counter.

The Dolphins got in front and held off Spain Park in the final points to win the second set 25-23 and tie up the match.

With one set to now decide the winner of the tournament, both teams remained tightly matched in the third set, but the Jags swung the momentum back in their favor.

Spain Park took the 15-12 win in the final set to clinch the championship for the HeffStrong Silver Bracket.

The Jags will be back in action in area play on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. as they travel to Chelsea High School to face the Hornets.