Lady Spartans return top scorers, eye Final Four

After a spectacular 2011-2012 season for the Mountain Brook High School Varsity Girls Basketball team (26-7), the Lady Spartans look to repeat their successes and head back to the 6A Regionals in 2013. Village Living received a dose of insight from Head Coach Mark Cornelius on what fans can expect this season.

Cornelius, in his second stint as head coach of the Lady Spartans, has coached the program a total of 23 years. He previously played basketball for the University of Alabama and, in 1989-1990, played in two NCAA Tournaments and had one Sweet Sixteen appearance.

Cornelius was also head coach of the boys program at Mountain Brook for 10 years, and holds the title of the winningest basketball coach in Mountain Brook High School history.

Who are some new faces on the team this year?

Seniors Hayden Griffin and Maggie Dodson are a welcome addition to a strong senior class. With juniors Michelle Wu we add depth at the post. We also have a couple of new freshman this season. Sara Carr will play forward, and Nicole Strahl will help us at the point guard position.

Who on the team do you expect to have breakout seasons?

One thing about this year’s group is that everyone knows about them. Our opponents have been competing against them for several years. Senior Liz Bygrave has been working very hard to step up and have a great year.

How have the dynamics of this team changed from last year?

Our loss of Annabelle Friedman to an ACL injury really hit us hard. I have challenged our ladies to step up and fill the void left by Annabelle’s absence. I know that as we go through the year and find the roles that each girls has, then we can be successful. Our style of play will not change. We will get after you from the time you get off the bus until the last horn. My ladies love to play that way, and nothing will change that.

What will returning players bring to the table to stay competitive?

This group of returners is amazing. Ellie Mouyal is a returning senior this season, and she has had a great off-season. Ellie is tremendous in transition, and we depend or her ability to finish at the rim. Liz Bygrave is a great teammate. She plays several positions, which makes her very important to our overall success. Juniors MK Pinson and Collier Ogilvie are the top returning scorers. Collier became the school’s all-time leading scorer last season, and MK set the record for most points in a single game with 39. Sophomores Abby Garrett and Neely Francis have one year of varsity experience under their belt, and they are expected to really make a statement this season. Abby is a powerful post player, and Neely can shoot as well as anyone around. Depth of this caliber is unusual for high school basketball.

Is there one game you are most looking forward to this season?

I don’t know if there is just one game that is more important than the other, but there are three games that will show a lot about the possibilities of the season. Shades Valley, Gadsden City and Oxford will be the strongest opponents that stand between us and a trip to the Final Four. We play each of these schools during the regular season, so that will let us know where we are as a team and what we need to work on if we want to reach our goal.

What do you tell your girls to get them motivated and ready to go every week?

Make everyday a masterpiece! That is my motto. I want the ladies to understand that we want to get just a little better each day. Other teams may be taller or faster, but no one we be as relentless as we are. We don’t talk too much about winning. Winning comes about by working hard and being the best we can be. Win or lose, at that point we have nothing to hang our head about.

What life lesson would you like players to take with them as they look back at the time spent in your program?

That there is a right way and a wrong way to go about things. That success is where work and patience meet. I often tell my players that when this is all said and done if the only thing I have taught you is to be a better basketball player then I have failed as a coach.

What has been your career-defining lesson?

The saying “Jimmys and Joes are better than x’s and o’s” is very true. If I were to put my stamp on one thing, it would be that getting the players to understand the importance of we and not me. Together we can compete with anyone but separately we will not be successful.