Rebels fall to Mountain Brook in regional final

HANCEVILLE — The Vestavia Hills High School boys basketball team tried to reverse course in Tuesday’s Class 7A Northwest Regional final against Mountain Brook.

The Rebels had fallen to the Spartans in three previous meetings this season by margins of 11, 26 and 27 points.

Tuesday didn’t turn out much differently. 

Vestavia Hills saw its season come to an end with a 57-36 loss to its neighboring rival at Tom Drake Coliseum.

“Obviously, today didn’t go the way we wanted it to go,” Vestavia Hills head coach Patrick Davis said. “We got kicked. That happens.”

Mountain Brook’s victory sends it to its third consecutive state final four — and sixth in seven years. The Spartans will play Lee-Montgomery on Thursday, Feb. 28, at the BJCC’s Legacy Arena in the state semifinals. The Spartans are shooting to secure their third straight 7A title.

“I think a major factor in this is past teams who have gotten us here,” Mountain Brook head coach Bucky McMillan said. “These players are comfortable being here, and I think that will carry over to the Civic Center as well.”

This season Mountain Brook (29-3) has not faced Lee, which will present a new set of challenges. But lack of familiarity did not factor into the equation against Vestavia Hills (22-11) thanks to the teams’ first three meetings.

The Spartans left no doubt that the fourth matchup would yield an identical outcome to the previous ones. Playing with their backs to a Mountain Brook student section clad in neon T-shirts, they bolted out to a 21-4 first-quarter lead.

Lior Berman, who finished with 11 points, began the first quarter by swishing a 3 from the left wing. Watford, who was named regional tournament MVP, closed the quarter by canning another 3, this time atop the key.

“I felt like we were ready for anything,” said Berman, a senior. “We had been practicing hard, preparing, and I knew that we were going to play good regardless.”

Mountain Brook ceded no ground in the second quarter. It played tight interior defense and forced Vestavia Hills to shoot from the perimeter.

The Rebels sank only 25 percent of their field-goal attempts, including a single 3, in the opening half. They trailed 32-11 at the break.

“I thought we played really well defensively,” McMillan said. “There was a time there where I thought we had a good chance to...maybe hold them to 30 or something. It’s a great job by our guys in that game.”

Vestavia Hills surged slightly to begin the third quarter. It made three consecutive stops on defense, and Michael Vice connected from beyond the arc.

Then came a Watford alley-oop dunk, which quieted the Rebels’ sprawling student section while evoking a roar from the Spartans’. Watford pointed to his classmates as he backpedaled down the court next to teammate Colby Jones, who notched 11 points and seven rebounds. Watford finished with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds.

Vestavia Hills trailed by 31 points, 48-17, entering the final frame.

Mountain Brook played its reserves for much of the fourth quarter. By then, the Spartans had sealed their fate.

Luke Couch paced the Rebels with nine points, while Coleman Barranco had seven.

“It’s one of those days things didn’t go right,” Davis said. “We didn’t execute what we wanted to do on either end of the floor, so that was disappointing. But I couldn’t be more proud of my guys, not necessarily from today, but from beginning to end.”