By Rubin E. Grant
When the end came, so did a flood of tears.
The previous three Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 7A boys basketball championship games ended with the Mountain Brook Spartans celebrating victory and the only tears were tears of joy – and perhaps a few from seniors who had played their final game with their high school teammates.
But last Saturday night, when the Lee-Montgomery Generals (33-1) ended Mountain Brook’s three-year reign with a tense 40-38 victory, the Spartans cried profusely, almost uncontrollably.
Their disheartenment and dejection was fully on display for all those at the BJCC Legacy Arena to see.
Mountain Brook coach Bucky McMillan tried to give some perspective to why his players took the defeat so hard.
“It wasn’t a high-scoring game, but you witnessed a war,” McMillan said. “I saw people on both sides who would die for their brothers out there. When you see that, it’s so much bigger than basketball, so much bigger than a trophy. The heart and toughness that our guys played with – and the Lee guys – will be remembered forever.”
Mountain Brook (32-3), which eliminated Lee 59-48 in the semifinals last year, led 21-12 at halftime. Lee began the third quarter with an 8-0 run to pull within 21-20. The Generals finally tied the score 29-29 on Deyunkrea Lewis’ layup at the end of the quarter.
It was still tied until Lee edged ahead 37-34 on Jamari Smith’s three free throws, the first with 4:14 remaining and second two with 2:27 left.
Twice Mountain Brook got within a point and had a chance to take the lead, but Edward Reed missed a 3-point attempt from the left corner. After Smith made another free throw to give Lee a 40-38 lead with 18 seconds remaining, the Spartans had a chance to force overtime.
Mountain Brook got what it wanted, but Colby Jones had a 10-foot jumper rim out and Peyton Haley missed on the tip. Lee’s Lewis collected the final rebound as time expired, giving the Generals their first state championship in school history.
“They are so unorthodox on defense,” McMillan said about the Spartans’ end-of-game strategy. “You don’t know what they will do. Sometimes they trap you, sometimes they play you straight up. We wanted to create space and play. We ran a little slip play and spaced out.
“We had good looks. One rimmed out. Edward had a good look from the corner. No one shied away from pulling the trigger. Give me those guys in life.”
Both teams shot poorly. Mountain Brook was 16 of 44 from the field, 36.4%, and made only 1 of 14 3-point attempts. Carter Sobera led the Spartans with 14 points and Jones, who has signed with Xavier University, had 10 points but was 5 of 14 from the field. Holt Bashinsky finished with only 7 points, going 3 of 12 from the field, including 1 of 9 on 3-pointers.
“I feel like our guys and I really just left it all out there,” Sobera said, “and I think that’s something we can live with.”
Lee shot only 37.5% from the field (15 of 40) and made only 2 of 14 3-pointers. De’marquiese Miles, the MVP, was the only Lee player in double figures, with 12 points.
“They didn’t make a lot of 3s,” McMillan said. “They made one more than us. We could play that game 100 times, and we may make the one more 3 and win.”
Then he added, “I don’t care that we didn’t win the game. We represented our city.”
For Jones, it was a disappointing end to his two-year career at Mountain Brook. He transferred to Mountain Brook from Pinson Valley before his junior year. After the tears had stopped Saturday, he spoke appreciatively of his time with the Spartans.
“I love this team,” Jones said. “Moving to Mountain Brook last year was the best thing for me. I got progressively better as a player faster, but more than that, it taught me so much about life. The bonds I have with my teammates, now my brothers, will never change.”
