By Rubin E. Grant
Photo by Campbell Brewer
Perhaps no one enjoyed Mountain Brook’s history-making girls basketball season more than Libby Geisler.
Geisler, the Spartans’ lone senior, was elevated to the varsity for the 2020-21 season when she was in the eighth grade. Mountain Brook finished with a 10-16 record that year.
Now, flash forward to this year. The Spartans reached the state tournament for the first time in program history, and Geisler, understandably, was ecstatic.
The Spartans secured their berth in the Final Four with an impressive 52-40 victory against Fort Payne in the Class 6A Northeast Regional championship game on Feb. 20 at Jacksonville State. “It’s an honor and a blessing,” Geisler says. “I always believed in our team and knew we had the potential to do it, but finally being here in the moment and making history, it leaves me speechless. I’m just so proud of everyone on the team for how hard they work and for playing together and executing the game plan.”
Alas, Mountain Brook’s stay in the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s 105th State Basketball Championships was short-lived. The Spartans fell 56-28 to Chelsea in Class 6A semifinals on Feb. 26 at BJCC’s Legacy Arena to finish the season with a 25-7 record.
Mountain Brook had beaten Chelsea 51-49 in early December during the regular season.
Mountain Brook head coach Sara Price, who just finished her fifth season, believed the Spartans could be contenders for a state title at the outset of the season. “We told them early on they were a very special group,” Price says. “We told them if we stick to the little things and do the little things well, we would have a good chance for a special season.”
The victory against Fort Payne confirmed it. The Spartans had played in regional finals only twice before, in 1998 and in 2008. “Huge congrats to these young ladies for believing in themselves and this program, trusting the process and not settling for anything less,” Price says. “They come in and rise to the expectations day in and day out and put in the work. I’m thankful for my coaching staff for their hard work—this does not happen without them. It’s an exciting moment for our school and our girls basketball program.”
Price praised the leadership the Spartans received from Geisler, who has signed with Spring Hill College in Mobile and surpassed 1,000 career points this season. “She’s grown up in our program,” Price says. “She does a great job with the young ones and that goes to team chemistry.”
The Spartans received contributions up and down their roster during their historic run.
In Mountain Brook’s regional 43-30 semifinal victory against Gadsden City, Geisler scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, and sophomore Maddie Walter had 17 points and seven rebounds.
In the regional championship game against Fort Payne, freshman sharpshooter Avery Davis scored 25 points, sinking six of eight shots from the field, including four of six from 3-point range, and making nine of 12 free throw attempts. She was named the regional tournament MVP. “She’s a shooterl she can shoot,” Geisler says.
Walters had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, as well as three steals.
Just as important was the Spartans’ defense, which held Fort Payne to 33 percent shooting from the field (16 of 48). “Defense was definitely the key, and everyone focused on that and it paid off,” Geisler says.
But in the Spartans’ state semifinals loss to Chelsea, Walter was the only one to reach double figures, scoring 12 points and collecting 10 rebounds.
Heading into the state tournament, Price liked her team’s chances. The Spartans came in riding an 11-game winning streak. “I think it’s a huge opportunity for our girls,” she said before the tournament. “I am very proud of them. It’s a testament to the hard work they’ve put in and type of schedule we’ve played. We told them to enjoy the moment and be in the present, to take it one day at a time and one game at a time.”
But now the Mountain Brook girls will have to wait a while longer before capturing their first state title.
