Bucky McMillan, Trendon Watford and the Mountain Brook Spartans defeated Baker of Mobile convincingly, 61-42, to capture their third straight state championship and 5th in 7 years with the other 4 coming in 2013, ‘14, ‘17 and ‘18.
Watford, the tournament MVP along with the Gatorade Player of the year for the 2nd year in a row, Mr. Basketball for the 3rd year in a row and potential Duke Blue Devil, LSU Tiger Alabama Crimson Tider or Memphis Tiger, scored 22 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, blocked 4 shots, set his team up for key baskets with pinpoint passing, and was 11 of 12 from the free throw line to help lead his team to victory.
Senior Lior Berman was just as important scoring 19 points and pulling down 8 boards. Junior Colby Jones added 10. Alex Washington was the key guy in the semis in a 59-48 victory over R.E. Lee of Montgomery as he sank 5-for-5 3’s including 4 straight in the last 10 minutes of the game scoring 19 points and assuring the Spartans played for a third straight state championship.
While Watford is a superstar, this year was all about the team for the 31-3 Spartans. They made history, becoming the only team in state history to ever win 3 straight state championships. It was a spectacular feat for a community that has always strived for greatness in its sports teams.
Bucky and Mountain Brook don’t look to be slowing down next season either with some key juniors returning and a national powerhouse schedule that will challenge a talented team.
For Watford, it’s on to the Alabama-Mississippi all star game, which McMillan will coach in the next 2 weeks, then, on Wednesday, March 27th at 6 PM CT on ESPN2, Watford will play in the McDonald’s All American game with the best players in the country, guys who are going to the blue chip college basketball programs. It will be quite a showcase of talent and a great challenge for the awesome Watford to test his skills against the nation’s best players. He could announce his college decision then during the game, either before the game or at halftime. Coach K has talked to him twice now.
I will have more from Bucky, Trendon, Alex and Lior on Wednesday. This Spartans powerhouse shows no signs of slowing down, and these 3 players are history makers in this state, along with junior point guard Paulie Stramaglia who was hurt earlier this season but will be back next year and is a Division 1 prospect along with Colby Jones.
More on Wednesday.