Spartans taking title defense one day at time
Clearly, the expectations within the Mountain Brook High School boys basketball program are going to remain the same with Tyler Davis in charge.
In his first season after taking over for Bucky McMillan, Davis led the Spartans to the Class 6A state championship, their fourth in the last five years.
Mountain Brook will begin the journey of defending its state title by focusing not on the big picture, but by taking things one step at a time.
“We never want to talk about winning a championship, because we want to just talk about winning the day and that’s what our process and our mindset is,” Davis said.
There are several key players returning to the Spartans this winter. Those guys know what is expected of them and they will be asked to take on even bigger roles.
“We’ve got some core guys that are coming back from last year’s championship team, but they’re going to have different roles and are going to be asked to do more than last year,” Davis said.
Julius Clark is one of those key returners, but he suffered a knee injury in the preseason and will be out for the first few weeks of the season at least. In the meantime, it will provide Mountain Brook an opportunity to get some other players more experience.
“We’ll be complete when he returns,” Davis said. “We’ve got other guys that are playing well in that absence. It’s going to help some guys grow up sooner than they were planning on.”
Ty Davis, the coach’s son, will move into the starting lineup this year and be asked to do much more ballhandling and playmaking.
“He’ll be a key cog of what we’re doing, but he’s still a sophomore,” Tyler Davis said. “He’s got a lot of basketball equity built up; he’s a gym rat and has played a lot of ball in his life, but he’s still growing into his body.”
A new face who will stand out as one of the Spartans’ top players immediately is Kyle Layton, a junior guard from Dallas, Texas, who can do it all. According to Davis, he can play both guard spots, shoot the ball, create for others and defend well.
Mountain Brook has three seniors this season. Dive Rowe and Charlie McKimmon were key players off the bench last year, but both should receive starters’ minutes in their final years. Parks McLain is a left-handed shooter who has battled injuries the last couple years, but will contribute if he can remain healthy.
Juniors Andrew Kohler and Brady Donlon should be in the rotation, as well as football players John Colvin and Jackson Beatty once the football team’s playoff run concludes. Lawson Gardner, Josh Long and a few others will get their opportunities as well.
For this team, Layton, Ty Davis and Clark will likely do most of the scoring, but the head coach would not rule out a handful of other players rising to be the team’s leading scorer on a given evening.
Mountain Brook hosts the Spartan Turkey Jam over Thanksgiving and heads to Orlando for a tournament the week before Christmas. The Spartans also play in Hoover’s tournament before the turn of the calendar.
The Spartans will look to claim another Class 6A, Area 9 title this season against the likes of Chelsea, Homewood and Briarwood.