The Reset: Watford repeats as Mr. Basketball

Over the course of the year, Village Living will keep you up to date on the various Mountain Brook High School athletic teams. To see previous weekly updates, click here.

BASKETBALL

Mountain Brook High School senior Trendon Watford was named Mr. Basketball by the Alabama Sports Writers Association for the second year in a row last Tuesday. He is just the fourth player to win the award twice, joining John Carroll’s Ronald Steele (2003-04), Butler’s Trevor Lacey (2010-11) and John Petty (2016-17), who won the award at J.O. Johnson and Mae Jemison.

Watford propelled the Spartans to a third straight Class 7A state championship earlier this month, making Mountain Brook the first program to win the AHSAA’s state basketball title three consecutive years at the highest classification. Watford averaged 23.7 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting 64 percent from the field on the season and played in the McDonald’s All-American game on March 27, tallying 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the contest. He has yet to announce his college commitment, but confirmed his final five schools as Duke, Alabama, Indiana, Memphis and LSU.

BASEBALL

The Mountain Brook baseball team played in the Choccolocco Spring Experience in Oxford last week. The Spartans split a pair of games on Wednesday, the opening day of the event. In the first game, Mountain Brook dropped a 5-3 game to Hickman (Missouri), as a four-run fifth inning cost the Spartans. Ford Kelly’s two-run home run opened the scoring, but Mountain Brook was unable to hang on to the lead.

The Spartans bounced back in the second game of the day to beat Oxford 13-3. Joe Saia and Harrison Ware put together big games at the plate, as both drove in three runs and doubled. Ware registered four hits in the game. Hayden Bruno scattered eight hits and three runs over five innings, along with striking out eight hitters.

Mountain Brook played two more games on Thursday, winning both of them. The Spartans began the day with a 13-3 win over Gadsden City, as they pulled away with a combined nine runs over the game’s final two innings. The bats were hot in the late innings in the following game as well, as Mountain Brook rallied to secure a 7-2 win over Piedmont after trailing after five innings. Will Yarbro drove in two runs, while Edward Berry went the distance on the mound to earn the win.

Mountain Brook completed its run in the event with an 18-4 win over Ariton on Friday. The Spartans scored nine runs in the first inning and never looked back. Colton Yeager and John Marks each drove home three runs for the offense, while Harrison Hodges, Ware, Will Baynes and Kelly all had two RBIs.

— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.