Mountain Brook girls team ready to elevate its game

Mountain Brook girls basketball coach Mark Cornelius enters the 2015-16 season convinced his Spartan squad is ready to take its game to the next level. 

After tallying its fourth straight, 20-plus win season last winter, the team’s march toward a title prematurely stalled in the Sweet Sixteen, also for a fourth straight year, abruptly ending when the Spartans fell to Huntsville High School 66-40 in the region semifinal. 

This season, the bar is raised. 

“We’ve made it to the Sweet Sixteen four years in a row, which is good. The bad part is we’ve only made it to the Sweet Sixteen four years in a row,” Cornelius said. “I think the one thing that I’m looking forward to, and these girls are looking forward to, is that opportunity to move to another step, and I do believe we can do that.”

In order to advance to the latter stages of the Class 7A playoffs in 2016 - whether it’s the Elite Eight, Final Four or beyond — Cornelius knows his team will have to closely follow its blueprint for success: exceptional team chemistry, fierce physicality and a heavy dose of Sara Carr.

Referred to as “the most underrated high school basketball player in the state” by her coach, Carr, a forward, led the Spartans in points (20) and rebounds (10) per game last season, earning a spot on the Alabama Sports Writers Association 7A All-State Second Team. 

Her impact, however, extends far beyond the stat sheet. 

“She’s a phenomenal athlete,”  Cornelius said, “but to know Sara as somebody besides a basketball player is probably more important because she is a very special young lady, truly cares about  her teammates and is a really, really good leader.”

With a roster consisting of five juniors, three sophomores, three freshmen and just two seniors, that type of veteran leadership is exactly what Mountain Brook needs. 

Along with fellow senior Kathryn Wason, Carr will help lead the Spartans’ push to achieve their two other keys to success, fostering team chemistry and becoming more physical. 

As indicated by the past, one of those tasks will likely pose a more difficult challenge. 

A smaller team reliant on spacing the floor with its collective speed, Mountain Brook has recently struggled to adopt a more physical style of play.

“I really think for us it’s about being more physical as a team,” Cornelius said. “It’s a very physical game, and we have to be able to respond physical with physical, and if we’re able to do that part of it, then I think we have the skills in order to move to the next level.”

Cornelius only had his complete squad for 12 days prior to the first game of the season, due to the absence of Carr and sophomore point guard Lacey Jeffcoat, who were spurring the Spartan volleyball team to a second consecutive state title. But there is a mutual confidence shared between the coach and players that the other key component, team chemistry, will be easier to attain. 

“You just can’t get all of the details and get that camaraderie again in that short amount of time,” Cornelius said, “but by the time we get into the meat of our schedule in December and January, then I think we’ll be in really good shape.”

True to Mountain Brook form, however, the focus is never on the end result. 

Instead, attention is given to detail, placing elevated importance on daily improvement while maintaining perspective.

“We’re going to try our best to win, and we’re going to try to be the best we can be,” Carr said, “but at the end of the day, it’s about making these lifelong friendships with these girls that you can just have forever.”