By Rubin E. GrantSpain Park senior swimmer Ella-Joan Browning is headed to Tennessee on a rowing scholarship, and she has her dogs to partly thank for it.Shortly after Browning and her family moved from Bloomington, Illinois, to the Altadena Woods neighborhood in Hoover in 2021, she fell down a flight of stairs in their home and injured her ankle.For her, she said, … [Read more...]

By Josh BeanHoover won its fourth straight Class 7A girls basketball championship by beating Hewitt-Trussville 58-56 in the championship game last Saturday at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena.But coach Krystle Johnson said this title – the Bucs’ fifth in the past six seasons – holds a special place in her heart because the Bucs spent much of the season playing the role of … [Read more...]

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr.Mountain Brook stood on the cusp of at least extending its bid for a Class 6A boys basketball championship and Batman could only watch from the sideline.Unfortunately for the Spartans, defending state champion Buckhorn still had Robin.For the second year in a row, Mountain Brook fell to the Bucks in the 6A final of the AHSAA basketball … [Read more...]

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr.Call it selective amnesia.Yes, the Hoover boys basketball team won the Class 7A championship in 2023. But this year’s squad wouldn’t think of defending that championship.They set their sights on starting anew and winning another one.“One thing coach told us back when we first started was that we (weren’t) going to say that we were … [Read more...]

By Rubin E. GrantIn the first 22 years of the Spain Park wrestling program, only two wrestlers completed undefeated seasons.That number doubled Saturday when senior Kyle Oliveira and sophomore Bradley Williams accomplished the feat in the 69th AHSAA State Wrestling State Championships at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Kyle Oliveira (53-0) won the Class 7A … [Read more...]