By Rubin E. Grant
John David Smelser took the Vestavia Hills girls basketball team to the brink of the Final Four in his first two seasons as head coach only to see the Lady Rebels come up short in the regional finals.
This year, Smelser believes the Lady Rebels will finally break through and earn a berth in the Class 7A state tournament. He is counting on a blend of experience and youth to get Vestavia Hills to BJCC’s Legacy Arena, site of the Final Four.
“We have some seniors back and a lot of girls who are talented,” Smelser said. “We play four freshmen in the rotation. The upperclassmen have been doing a good of showing the young girls the ropes.”
Vestavia Hills entered this week with a 19-2 record after a narrow 49-47 loss to Hewitt-Trussville last Friday in the Lady Rebels’ Class 7A, Area 6 opener. Their other loss was 64-55 to defending Class 7A champion Hoover on Dec. 9.
Smelser, who led Vestavia Hills to a combined 53-15 record in his first two seasons, is not surprised by his team’s success.
“From a talent standpoint I knew we could be where we are,” he said. “We are happy, but not satisfied.”
Leading Talent
Vestavia has three seniors, all named Smith. Emma and Ally Smith are twins and are playing their fifth season on the varsity. Carley Smith, unrelated to them, is also a starter.
“The twins are great,” Smelser said. “Emma is averaging 15.0 points per game and went over 1,700 points for her career and is now the leading scorer in Vestavia basketball history. Ally is shooting the ball really well and Carley can shoot the three.”
Junior Anna Towry is another key upperclassman. The talented freshmen are Sarah Gordon, Jill Gaylard, Grayson Hudgens and Jordan Madsen.
“Sarah Gordon has been spectacular,” Smelser said. “She was playing middle school basketball last year at Pizitz, but she’s been starting for us. She’s a tall big guard at 5-foot-11. She shoots well and can score inside.
“Jill Gaylard played as an eighth grader last year. Grayson Hudgens played up a little bit last year as well. Jordan Madsen is also from Pizitz. She brings size to our team. She’s 5-11 and she rebounds really well.
“Sarah and the other three are playing a lot of minutes. They are not playing like ninth graders. With our sophomores, Mallory Cowan and Ally Perry, the future is bright.”
The Rebels play an up-tempo style, so Smelser constantly shuffles players in and out.
“We’re playing 10 to 11 players a game,” he said. “We’re still pressing and going quick and scoring a lot of points. A lot of that has to do with our defense and we space the floor well and most of the time we have five shooters on the floor.
“We have a mix of good shooters and players who can drive the ball to the basket. Then you throw in Sarah Gordon, who can score inside and outside. Emma is another one like Sarah, who can score inside and out. Jordan Madsen scores a lot in the post, too.”
The Lady Rebels continue area play this week, visiting Gadsden City Tuesday and playing host to Spain Park on Friday.
“We’re in a tough area,” Smelser said. “Hewitt is good and has three good guards. Spain Park is well-coached and Gadsden City has some good athletes.”
Despite their impressive record, Smelser hopes the Lady Rebels haven’t reached their peak.
“I was telling somebody the other day that’s it’s scary playing as well as we are because it’s still January,” Smelser said. “We don’t want to be peaking now. I hope we can keep it going and continue to improve, so we’ll be playing good ball in February.”
