Photo by Ted Melton
Vestavia Hills Basketball
Head coach Laura Casey has a young team this season with a high ceiling for the future.
Vestavia Hills head girls basketball coach Laura Casey is navigating the waters of her sixth season with a large chunk of the playing time being distributed amongst underclassmen.
Four sophomores and a freshman make up the bulk of playing time for the Lady Rebels. Lessons are being learned everyday, some the easy way and some the hard way. The games bring about certain situations that can only be dealt with by experience. It’s all part of the process.
“The biggest things that you learn in a game that you can’t replicate 100 percent in practice are the pace of the game — when to push the tempo, when to pull it back. You learn how to score — what can I do against someone else that’s not my own teammate. And you learn how to handle pressure,” Casey said.
The Lady Rebels got off to a 3-0 start this season, but the growing pains have come in bunches since then. While discouraging for the young players not to see the immediate fruits of their labor in the win column, Casey has been pleased with their progress.
“Where I expect them to be as sophomores, their expectations are a lot higher,” she said. “If they continue to work and have the work ethic that they do and put in the time that they have, then they could be a great team.”
Maggie Mince, Merritt Cahoon, Taylor Wilson, Sarah Cain and Courtney Milner are some of the girls that come to mind when discussing the future of the program, but the veterans on the team should not be overlooked when it comes to impact this season and laying the groundwork for future teams.
Maddie Vernon is a senior who, along with Mince, provides the energy and motivation to improve each day.
“They really push us as far as being intense and working hard every day,” Casey said.
Vestavia has a pair that can “shoot the lights out” in Wilson and senior Jessica Compton, a stabilizing force on the team for the last four years. Compton also shares a familiar experience with Milner, as Milner is a freshman with the rare ability to play at the varsity level.
“I have had maybe three that have done that,” Casey said. “Courtney’s going to end up being a great player.”
Cahoon acts as a calming presence on the floor for Vestavia, after missing about a month due to injury early on. Senior Renesha Evans is a rebounding force, and is helping Cain learn the ropes down low in the post. Cain also possesses the ability to shoot the ball from outside the paint, an asset for someone with her length.
Katelyn Pickard and Samantha Salmon are two other key seniors, and McKenzie Jackson and Jasmyn White are juniors.
There are also a multitude of lessons off the court to be learned, as Casey spends a great deal of time reinforcing the value of academics and community service to her team, along with five “core values” of the program.
Casey said, “What they learn on the basketball floor and being on a team is far more important than how many wins or losses they have.”
The wins will come much more frequently than the losses in the coming seasons, granted the Lady Rebels continue to learn and grow.