Rising tides: Young stars leading Lady Spartans to new heights

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Sports

The belief arrived for the Mountain Brook High School girls basketball team long before the rest of the state noticed.

It crept in quietly, possession by possession, until one moment made it impossible to ignore. A trip to the beach. A heavyweight opponent. A realization that the Lady Spartans could compete with anyone.

“We played Coffee County [Tennessee] at the beach, and they are a very good team,” Maddie Walter said. “They had a very good record, and we stuck with them for a very long time. They had multiple Division I athletes. We really gave them a run for their money.”

For Avery Davis, the moment was tied not just to who they were playing but who they were missing.

“At the beach, whenever [senior leader] Libby [Geisler] got hurt, we all had to step up, and I think we realized that we could do it,” Davis said. “We didn’t have one of our main pieces at the time. It really helped our confidence.”

That belief carried Mountain Brook to the Class 6A state final four last season for the first time in program history. It also reshaped expectations. This year, the Lady Spartans are no longer a surprise.

Becoming the standard

Last season, Walter and Davis helped drive the breakthrough run. Walter averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Davis added 11.4 points per game.

Those two, along with Geisler, spearheaded the late-season run of last year’s team. They knew they had something special brewing, while many onlookers were likely surprised when they ran through the northeast regional tournament to reach the final four.

“We had to step up,” Davis said. “It really helped our confidence, and we realized that we could really make a run.”

Head coach Sara Price saw that shift happen in real time.

“I think that’s the true testament — the heart that our girls pour into things and the hard work,” Price said. “We know we’re not going to be the tallest or the biggest or the strongest sometimes, but we are going to work hard, and we are going to push pace, and we are going to play at the standard that they know how to play.”

That standard did not disappear with the offseason. If anything, it sharpened.

“I feel like we have to show them that it wasn’t an accident — that we were there for a reason — because we worked for it,” Davis said.

Walter echoed the same idea.

“Our mentality going into it is honestly to just keep doing the work — do the little things, to play for each other, for the bigger purpose,” she said. “And to really just take it all in and learn from it.”

It’s never easy

Mountain Brook did not shy away from challenges early in the 2025-26 season. If anything, Price leaned into them.

“Putting them in every challenge and situation — every scenario that they can see — before the big stage,” Price said of the building process throughout the season. “Putting them in so many different scenarios and situations and challenges that it won’t be new to them.”

The early schedule has tested depth, chemistry and patience. Injuries forced adjustments, including stretches without Walter.

“We had some challenges when Maddie got hurt,” Davis said.

Price sees value in those moments. At the end of the day, the postseason games are what matter the most.

“It doesn’t matter what our record says. It matters what happens in January, February and then some,” Price said.

Walter and Davis are no longer the wide-eyed newcomers they once were. The perspective has shifted.

“I feel like this year it kind of hit me that I wasn’t a baby anymore,” said Walter, who is now a junior. “In years leading up, they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re only in so-and-so grade.’ This year they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re a junior.’”

Davis had a similar feeling but is embracing being in her third year on varsity as a sophomore.

That experience has changed how they view their roles. While Walter and Davis do much of their leading in the way they perform on the floor, Davis pointed out the importance of players like seniors Clarkie Wilkinson and Annabelle Avery, who provide maturity and steadiness for the team.

Price values that balance.

“You’ve got to have players on the team that are going to score the points,” she said. “You’re going to have players on the team that are going to rebound. You’re going to have players on the team that need to go set screens and play defense. It’s just buying into their role.”

Lessons from the big stage

The final four experience still lingers, both as motivation and as unfinished business.

“It wasn’t really cool losing,” Price said. “But it happens. You’ve got to get there first to get a taste of it first.”

Walter admitted it still weighs on her.

“We didn’t really play like us,” she said of the loss to Chelsea in the semifinals. “And I feel like if we played like us, we would have gotten farther.”

Davis believes familiarity would change everything.

“I think that we would all just be more comfortable,” she said. “We’ve been there before, but it was our first time, so it was really nerve wracking.”

Price agreed and pointed back to the schedule as preparation.

The memories remain vivid. The bus ride. The locker room. The moment of stepping onto the floor at Legacy Arena for the first time.

“You don’t realize how big it is until you’re on the floor,” Walter said. “Just looking up and there’s a bunch of lights and people.”

For Davis, the crowd made it real.

“Our whole school was there,” she said. “It was nerve wracking, but I think it was really fun.”

Pushing forward

Despite the attention, the Lady Spartans are careful not to let last season define them.

“It’s a different team,” Walter said. “We’re going to have to build some different team chemistry — some different bonds.”

Price sees growth as the constant.

“You’re going to have a different team every year,” she said. “People grow. People develop differently. That’s always going to fluctuate.”

The pride in what Mountain Brook has built is evident, especially for players who grew up watching from the stands.

“I see these little girls in the stands, and it makes me very happy,” Walter said. “And excited for the future of Mountain Brook basketball.”

Davis feels the same responsibility.

“After making it to the final four, I think they know that we can accomplish that,” she said. “And we just can keep going from there.”

For Price, watching it unfold has been surreal.

“I pinch myself every time we step foot on the floor,” she said. “I remember when they were little. Watching the young women that they become just says a lot about how the tide of the culture of the program is starting to turn.”

The belief that started at the beach has not faded. It has simply evolved.

“I think it motivates us to have to continue to have a good season,” Price said.