Photos by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia Hills’ Sarah Gordon (33) shoots a 3-pointer guarded by Oak Mountain’s Ella Holt (4) at Oak Mountain High School on Dec. 9.
The Vestavia Hills High School girls basketball team has seemingly picked up where it left off last year.
After reaching the Class 7A state championship last March, the Lady Rebels hit the ground running once again.
Vestavia Hills won its first 21 games of the season, many of them in convincing fashion. That includes victories over Chelsea, Pelham, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, Mortimer Jordan, Homewood, Mountain Brook and Foley.
The key to the great start? Shooting and selflessness.
“They’re understanding how to play the game,” Vestavia Hills head coach John David Smelser said. “When you play unselfish and move the ball and hit shots, you’ve got a good chance to win most of the games that you play.”
Emma Smith was Vestavia’s unquestioned leader on and off the floor last year, but the likes of Sarah Gordon and Anna Towry have taken the baton and run with it.
Towry is the team’s lone senior and has been a cornerstone for the team on and off the floor.
“She knows everything. She’s a great leader and a great example for everybody,” Gordon said.
Towry said the team’s confidence was high entering area play, even though the Lady Rebels suffered their first loss of the season to Hoover, the team that beat them in the previous state championship game, on Jan. 10.
“Throughout the first 20 games, we’ve learned how to play with each other and how each other plays,” Towry said. “That’s what’s worked really well, is learning how each other plays and playing to each other’s strengths. That’s led to a lot of success.”
Even in the midst of the season-opening winning streak, the Lady Rebels showed their mettle in tough stretches, in close- and late-game opportunities.
“You learn what your team is made of in those situations. We’ve continued to make a big shot or make a big play. That’s who we are. We know how to win and expect to win and I haven’t seen any panic in those situations,” Smelser said.
Although she’s just a sophomore, Gordon has taken on the mantle of the team’s leading scorer most games, displaying a combination of smooth shooting and playmaking.
“It’s been awesome,” Towry said of Gordon’s development. “When she first came up, she was nervous. We just encouraged her and watched her develop into what she is. It’s because of how hard she works and how much time she puts in.”
Point guard Jill Gaylard and several others were also key contributors to last year’s successful postseason run. The hope for the Lady Rebels is to be able to do that again.
With Vestavia now in Hoover’s area this year and both teams still two of the best in the state, they could meet up to four times (twice in the regular season, once in the area tournament and potentially in the regional final).
Add in the fact that Bob Jones would also be in the Northwest Regional should all three teams make it there, things certainly won’t be easy down the stretch for a team with high aspirations.
But Smelser believes in his team and its potential to make another run.
“It’s a grind, it always has been,” he said. “It’s never easy, but I think our girls understand that and they know how hard it is. They’re battle tested.”
