Setting the tone

Hannah Straughn likes where she fits into the Mountain Brook community.

“We have a purpose out in this community,” the Mountain Brook High School senior said. “People ask, ‘What do you do?’ You say you play basketball. That gives them a reason to come to the games because they know you.”

Straughn is one of four seniors on the high school basketball team this season, along with Emily Henderson, Whitton Bumgarner and Ellen Dulin. The four have played together nearly all their lives, with at least three of them playing on the same team each of the past 12 years, dating all the way back to their days playing in the Over the Mountain league.

All four assert that this year’s edition of the Mountain Brook program features the strongest team chemistry any of them have seen since they have been at the high school. That starts with four lifelong friends and teammates who know and respect each other immensely.

“It’s fun that none of us are in the same friend group or hang out with the same people, but we’re all really close, even with the younger girls,” Bumgarner said.

They have learned a new way of life over the last 18 months as well, adjusting to head coach John London’s emphasis on conditioning.

“At first, it was so difficult,” said Henderson, who laughs now when she thinks about those exhausting days in the summer.

The conditioning pays off in the long run, as the Lady Spartans run an up-tempo offense with the goal of wearing out opponents.

“As much as we want to complain, this is the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Dulin said.

The team began to see the fruits of that labor last year, as Mountain Brook put together a 19-9 overall record with several close losses to state tournament teams.

London has established his system with the Lady Spartans now and he puts a great deal of emphasis on the leadership of his four seniors. Before the season began, he said, “we will lean heavily on them” this season.

The players have embraced that role.

“Coach London puts so much responsibility in our hands, it’s made us step up even more,” Dulin said.

Those four seniors have helped create a culture within the program that allows players to encourage each other while also holding everyone accountable. Bumgarner said she is “not going to get offended” when a teammate offers a word of advice.

Henderson added, “When you have friends and teammates telling you to step it up, it makes it about helping the team as a whole. Hearing that from a teammate as opposed to a coach, you do things a little bit quicker and with a bit more motivation because it’s coming from one of your peers.”

All four seniors are content with the fact that this will be their last year of playing organized basketball. That’s why they are hoping to make the most out of the season and get the Mountain Brook program back to the regional tournament for the first time since they were freshmen.

They’re also trying to set an example for future Lady Spartans.

“If the [younger] girls see how we have the confidence to play, they’ll want to continue to do it,” Straughn said.