No. 2 Spartans charge past Spain Park

The Mountain Brook Spartans used their ferocious pressing defense and a sharp offensive attack to overwhelm Spain Park 64-44 in a matchup of the teams ranked Nos. 2 and 4 in Class 7A. The Spartans (17-4, 2-0) benefited from the absence of Jaguar big man Austin Wiley, who was sick and didn't play. The Jaguars fell to 17-3, 1-1  in the Area 6 game.

The homestanding Spartans, seeking their third straight state championship come March, were never headed. They led 20-10 at the quarter, 36-19 at the half and 50-31 after three periods.

Jack Kline led the Spartans, doing much of the damage inside without Wiley to contend with, scoring 18 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Terrell Guy came off the bench to score 15 points.

Jamal Johnson scored 12 points to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots, and A.J. Smiley scored 12 points.

Spartans coach Bucky McMillan said he thought his team did a better job of not turning the ball over than they had been.

"And what a great atmosphere for high school basketball," he said of the fullhouse crowd in Spartan Arena. 

"This was a battle tonight, and I think our team handled it pretty well."

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