Buckhorn knocks off Spartans in state final
BIRMINGHAM – The Mountain Brook High School boys basketball team is no stranger to being on the biggest stage, playing in the Class 6A state championship.
The Spartans found themselves there again Saturday afternoon, playing in the state final for the sixth time in the last seven years. On this day, though, Buckhorn’s Caleb Holt stole the show at Legacy Arena.
Holt’s 32 points lifted Buckhorn to a 65-56 win over Mountain Brook in the 6A final, lifting the Bucks to the program’s first state title since 1995.
“They’re a really good team,” Mountain Brook head coach Tyler Davis said. “He’s an unbelievable talent. The players around him put a strain on your team. We tried to take him away and he had 32 [points] and 18 [rebounds]. That’s generational talent.”
After falling to eventual state champion Huffman in the regional final a season ago, the Spartans returned to the state final for the first time since winning it all in 2021. On the way there, they knocked off that Huffman program in the regional final.
“The journey was crazy,” senior Julius Clark said. “We had many ups and downs throughout the year, and this team fought through a lot of adversity and to be in this game is a blessing.”
Tyler Davis said many wrote the Spartans off before the season began, after leading scorer Kyle Layton suffered a preseason knee injury. But Layton worked his way back and contributed to the team over the season’s final few weeks. Davis also commended Ty Davis for stepping up this season as a point guard and team leader, as well as Clark for willingly making a position change eight games into the season.
He also mentioned the football players — among them John Colvin, Jackson Beatty and Clark Sanderson — for blending into the system after coming off a state runner-up run of their own.
“It’s a testament of Mountain Brook basketball that 1-15 was fearless and determined to do whatever they had to do to win,” Tyler Davis said.
After a slow start in the game’s first few minutes, Mountain Brook and Buckhorn got in a groove. The two teams exchanged baskets for the last few minutes of the opening quarter, as the Spartans grabbed a slim 14-13 lead.
Buckhorn opened up a lead in the second quarter by going on a 7-0 run, but Ty Davis knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the score at 22-22 halfway through the frame. Buckhorn took hold of a 29-27 lead at the half, as Davis scored 12 and Holt scored 11 in an entertaining opening 16 minutes.
Davis and Holt went back and forth for the first half, but Holt took over in the second half. Davis led the Spartans with 18 points in the contest, fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Holt’s 3-pointer gave Buckhorn a 49-40 lead to give the Bucks plenty of momentum in the early minutes of the final quarter. He had a monster performance, going for 32 points, 18 rebounds and a team-high 4 assists.
Layton capped off his career by scoring 15 points for the Spartans on the day. Clark contributed a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Mountain Brook and Buckhorn met during the regular season, with Buckhorn claiming a 60-52 overtime win in the Huntsville City Classic.
On Saturday, rebounding was a major key. Buckhorn outrebounded the Spartans 36-21 and grabbed 13 offensive boards, leading to 12 second-chance points.
The Spartans finished the season with a 26-8 record. They won the Spartan Turkey Jam tournament over Thanksgiving, won 15 of their last 17 and claimed the Area 10 and Northeast Regional titles.
Layton, Andrew Kohler, Colvin, Beatty and Clark were the team's seniors.