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Erin Nelson Photo by Erin Nelson
Mountain Brook’s Emma Stearns (23) shoots a 3-pointer in a game against Pell City at Spartan Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Erin Nelson Photo by Erin Nelson
Mountain Brook’s Sarah Passink (25) shoots a 3-pointer in a game against Pell City at Spartan Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
The standard has been raised in the Mountain Brook High School girls basketball program to the point where a season ending in the area tournament, like it did in 2022-23, feels like a letdown.
The Lady Spartans returned to the regional tournament two years ago but failed to advance to the state playoffs last winter.
They have regrouped and seem primed to make another push for the 2023-24 campaign.
“We’re not satisfied. We’re not done. It’s made them hungry for the season,” Mountain Brook head coach Sara Price said.
Price said the team responded well to last season’s disappointment over the summer and fall and has jumped right in with the mindset of achieving plenty this year.
The Lady Spartans have a couple seniors in Sarah Passink and Emma Stearns. Stearns battled injury last season but is healthy headed into her final season. The two of them, along with junior Libby Geisler, have been playing varsity basketball since they were in eighth grade and have assumed the main leadership roles on the team.
“It’s been really cool seeing them turn into leaders and watching the younger crew that we have and reminding them, ‘That was you before.’ They have grown and matured really well. They’re leader servants and that’s all you can ask for from captains,” Price said.
While those three have finally become the veterans on the team, the Lady Spartans still have plenty of young players. Freshman Maddie Walter got varsity minutes last year. Eighth grader Avery Davis will contribute this winter. Sophomores Ellie Halpern, Merrill Hines and Clarkie Wilkinson will play big minutes as well. Annabelle Avery, another sophomore, will help out at the center position with Walter.
Mountain Brook will still push the ball down the floor at a rapid pace, with a focus on improving the execution of the offense. Stearns and Geisler can knock down open 3-pointers with the best in the area. Passink has improved her shot as well.
“That’s what we worked on with all of our guards this year,” Price said. “We work on shooting the 3, obviously, because we have 3-point shooters, but we also work on attacking and then getting our shooters open.”
Where Price expects to see vast improvement is on the defensive side of the floor. She mentioned players like Halpern and Wilkinson stepping up as quality defenders.
“We have a lot of versatile athletes that we can put anywhere and succeed,” she said.
Price is proud of the culture being built within the program. Players and coaches seem determined to do better than last season. There are players in the program with the desire to play collegiately.
“Sometimes when adversity hits, you’ve got to look at the little things that you’ve done, and you just keep building,” she said.
Mountain Brook will play the likes of Chelsea, Pleasant Grove, Cullman, Madison Academy, Thompson, Huntsville, Hartselle, Vestavia Hills, Spain Park, Chelsea and Springville, to go along with its own tournament and tournaments at Oak Mountain and Athens in the season’s first two months. That slate, along with a game against Clay-Chalkville, will prepare the Lady Spartans for Area 10 play against Pell City, Woodlawn and Shades Valley.
