Expecting to win
The attitude within the Vestavia Hills High School boys basketball program is one that exudes confidence. After reaching the Final Four in 2017 and making a regional tournament appearance for the second straight year in 2018, the Rebels believe they can compete with anyone.
“They fear absolutely no one,” said third-year head coach Patrick Davis of his team. “There’s nobody out there that they’re in awe of. … They think they’re as good as anyone, and I don’t disagree with them — when we play well.”
There is certainly reason to feel that way, given the success the Rebels have had in Davis’ first two seasons at the helm of the program. The bar has been raised.
Davis said, “The expectation level is really high.”
That level is understood within the locker room.
“We expect to compete for state championships every year, but we don’t really talk about that,” Davis said. “We try to focus on getting better every day. If we do that, the wins and losses on Tuesday and Friday nights will take care of themselves.”
In order to compete at a high level once again this season, many players will be asked to take on a more significant role. The Rebels graduated six seniors off last year’s squad, four of whom started several games.
Scott Morrison was a three-year starter, Luke Champion led the team in scoring and rebounding, Rian Shields was a key cog and Colin Scollard started about half the team’s contests last year. Even Breck Cuddy is now on the team at Mercer University and Cameron Cacace brought a hard-nosed mentality to the defensive end.
Davis said the Rebels tweaked some things during the summer, as he likes to do each offseason to keep things fresh for the players and opponents on their toes. What works, he keeps. What doesn’t, he scraps.
One of the ideas that will definitely translate to the hardwood this winter is senior forward Paul Michael Hargrove being a focal point of the offense. Hargrove is 6-foot-8, 235 pounds and a matchup problem for almost every team on the Rebels’ schedule.
Hargrove played quite a bit last season and was at times on the floor with Cuddy — who Mercer now lists at 7-feet tall — but the Rebels were still a “pretty guard-oriented” team.
“He’s put on about 20 pounds, and it’s a good 20,” Davis said. “He can stretch the floor, he can shoot the 3[-point shot], he can bounce it. He can do a lot of things, so he’s going to get the ball a lot.”
After a fall spent wreaking havoc on opposing defenses as a tight end on the football team, Michael Vice will complement Hargrove in the front court.
“Michael Vice had a big summer. He’s going to be good for us. We did a lot of stuff with putting them out there together,” said Davis, who also mentioned Hunter Salmon and Hollis Macoy as other forwards that will be relied upon.
Luke Couch returns as the most experienced guard and is one of eight seniors on this year’s team. Thomas Anderson and Jackson Smith are two other senior guards who will see a bump in minutes this season.
“While there’s not a ton of minutes back, I feel pretty comfortable with those guys,” Davis said.
Coleman Barranco was the lone sophomore on the varsity team last year and put together a “phenomenal” summer. The 5-8 junior has great vision and ball-handling skills, and is able to use his small stature to his advantage.
“He’s really good in terms of understanding what we do and his vision is really good,” Davis said.
Davis Holbert is a high-level shooter who moves up from the junior varsity team, and Daniel Logsdon, Gabe Nelson, Eli Gurner, Jermaine Harris, James Holland Brittle, Luke Mann and Alex Dieguez round out the team.
Vestavia Hills will compete with defending Class 7A champion Mountain Brook, Spain Park and Hewitt-Trussville in Area 6. The Jags and Huskies have first-year coaches, while the Spartans are one of the favorites yet again. Being able to beat those teams down the stretch will play a large part in determining how successful the season ends up being.
“We want to win every game we play, but we expect to be playing our best basketball in February and March,” Davis said.
The Rebels host the annual Sneaky Pete’s Rebel Classic during the week of Thanksgiving. During December, Vestavia Hills will play Oxford, John Carroll, Oak Mountain, McAdory and Pelham before participating in the Birmingham/Huntsville Challenge, the Coosa River Classic in Childersburg and the Gulfport Holiday Classic in Mississippi.