Congratulations to MBHS Basketball Team!!
Class 6A boys championship:
No. 10 Mountain Brook 74, Sparkman 53
,
Mountain Brook's Malek Grant (24) acknowledges the Spartan fans following a 74-53 win over Sparkman in the Class 6A state championship game Saturday the BJCC Arena in Birmingham. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com)
Coach Bucky McMillan's Mountain Brook squad shut down Sparkman's high-octane offense and the No. 10-ranked Spartans enjoyed a hot shooting performance in a 74-53 win in the Class 6A championship game tonight at the BJCC Arena.
Mountain Brook (30-6) led by three after the first quarter, then held Sparkman without a field goal in the second quarter while outscoring the Senators 20-4.
"The theme of our team all year has been outstanding defense," McMillan said. "I truly believe that we're the best defensive team in the state of Alabama. I think we're an underrated team. A lot of people didn't give us a chance coming into this game and a lot of people didn't give us a chance going into the Lee-Huntsville game (the regional final)."
Sparkman (29-8) beat Mountain Brook 61-51 in late December, but the Senators never led in the rematch.
"We didn't have to change anything," McMillan said of the second meeting. "We played the same style defense. We just happened to have one of our best nights shooting free throws and shooting the 3-point ball."
The championship was the first for Mountain Brook. Sparkman finished as the runner-up for the fourth time.
The Spartans shot 46.8 percent (22 of 47) from the field and outrebounded Sparkman 42-33. The Senators hit just 30.4 percent (17 of 56) of their shots.
"When you look at our guys, we got down but we kept fighting," first-year Sparkman coach Jamie Coggins said. "If we would have got a break here or there, got it under 10, you never know what would have happened."
Mountain Brook-Sparkman highlights
Sparkman was playing without starting point guard Rakiya Battle, who broke his ankle during overtime of the Senators' semifinal win over top-ranked and defending state champion Carver-Montgomery on Thursday.
"When you don't have all the bullets in the chamber, it's going to hurt you," Coggins said. "But no excuses. Mountain Brook played better tonight; they were the better team."
Tournament MVP Malek Grant finished with game highs in points (22) and rebounds (11). Jeremy Berman added 16 points and five boards for Mountain Brook.
Lamonte Turner scored 13 points for Sparkman. Devin Hankins, Battle's primary replacement at point, added 10 points and four assists.
"I think we went into the game too hyper," Turner said. "Our shots were too hard. We turned the ball over against their press. We never really got comfortable. I think we played too fast."
