Spartans win State
The Mountain Brook boys' basketball team won its first ever AHSAA Class 6A state championship Saturday, March 2, defeating the Sparkman Senators 74-53 in front of a home atmosphere at the BJCC.
The Spartans' success began in a huge second period. They outscored Sparkman 20-4 as the Senators suffered a quarter-long field goal drought.
Leading 19-16, Mountain Brook's second quarter started with an 18-0 run. Seven of the Spartans' points in that stretch came from senior Malek Grant.
At halftime the score was 39-20. Although the rest of the game was evenly matched, Sparkman never got any closer to the Spartans than 14 points.
The game began in Mountain Brook's favor, with Grant and junior Patrick Keim hitting early shots. Though the Senators tied the game three times in the first period, the Spartans never trailed.
The Spartans twice led by 21 points in the second period. Sparkman's Devin Hankins scored his team's only points of the quarter with four free throws.
Each team scored 18 points in an evenly played third period. A Will Crowell three-pointer halfway through the quarter brought Sparkman to within 15, but six Grant points helped the Spartans stay significantly ahead.
When Sparkman began fouling in desperation, Spartan fans erupted in anticipation of their teams' victory. Mountain Brook extended their lead back to 21 with multiple free throws by Spartan reserves.
Grant won Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament, scoring 22 points in his final effort as a Spartan. He capped his Mountain Brook career with a double-double, adding 11 total rebounds.
Sophomore Tawarren Grant and senior Jeremy Berman were named to the all-tournament team. The younger Grant scored eight points Saturday, and Berman capped his Spartan career with a nearly flawless shooting performance.
Berman was second among all scorers Saturday with 16 points, coming off 4-5 field goal shooting, 3-4 from behind the arc and 5-6 from the charity stripe.
In their first ever appearance in the title game, the Spartans had the support of several thousand yellow-clad fans and a student section comprised of every Mountain Brook school.
11 Spartans scored in the contest, with four players getting more than five points.
Nine seniors will go out as state champions: Berman, Malek Grant, Stuart Harmon, Eric Raszeja, Will Deer, Joshua Bluestein, Hunter Williams, Reagan Alexander and Griff Cooper.