Spartans avenge loss, take down Gadsden City
JACKSONVILLE -- When Mountain Brook and Gadsden City match up on the hardwood, the records are out the window. The Titans came into the game with a 16-13 mark on the year, and Mountain Brook boasted a 27-5 record. Those didn’t matter.
Last season at regionals, the Titans knocked off Spartans in a last-second thriller. This year, however, the script flipped. It was Mountain Brook who came out on top with a 52-51 win that once again came down to the wire in a Class 7A Northeast Regional Semifinal at Jacksonville State University.
“Coach reminded us of last season a lot,” Mountain Brook senior Ben McCool said. “He used it to get us going in practice.”
The win wasn’t pretty by any means, but Spartans head coach Bucky McMillan said he didn’t mind an ugly win.
“Early in the year it’s all about improving your team, but this time it doesn’t matter if you win by half a point,” he said.
Mountain Brook built several leads, but never more than nine points in the second half. Gadsden City wouldn’t go away without a fight.
The Spartans shot a dreadful 40.6 percent from the free throw line as a team. Sophomore sensation Trendon Watford was 7-for-21 himself. From beyond the arc, Mountain Brook shot 27.8 percent, which is not typical of the Spartans.
“A lot of people would look at that as a negative,” McMillan said. “I look at it as a positive. We still found a way to win. Not many teams could do that.”
The difference was in the paint.
Mountain Brook outscored Gadsden City 24-14 down low in the game, led by Watford’s 18 points and aided by McCool’s 15 points.
Ironically, though, the Titans out-rebounded Mountain Brook 40-31 in the game.
McMillan said he had mixed emotions from his team’s performance. He was disappointed in the first half performance, but said overcoming obstacles in the second half made him proud of his team.
Both Watford and McCool had to deal with foul trouble late. Watford was charged with two off-ball fouls back-to-back and was consistently being pushed around in the paint.
“I don’t know that I could’ve had the composure [Watford] had,” McMillan said. “I’m really proud of him.”
Mountain Brook now faces Huffman for the fifth time this season. The two teams have met four previous times this season, with the Spartans winning the first three and Huffman winning the Area 6 tournament final last week. With a trip to the state semifinals on the line, the two teams will face off Wednesday at 10:45 a.m., also at Jacksonville State.