2 minute read
SPORTS
Thursday, December 1, 2022 ❖ OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
Junior running back Cole Gamble led the Spartan attack with 189 yards rushing and three touchdowns, scoring on runs of 36, 1 and 12 yards in Mountain Brook’s 28-7 win over Muscle Shoals in the Class 6A semifinals Friday.
FINALLY!
Mountain Brook Clears Semifinal Hurdle to Reach Championship Game
By Hayden Flatt
MUSCLE SHOALS — Coach Chris Yeager and his Mountain Brook Spartans spent the past two seasons wondering what could have been and
what they had to do to finish a state football playoff run.
Last Friday, the Spartans put those thoughts to rest, going on the road
SPARTAN JUNIOR RUNNING BACK COLE GAMBLE
‘Talented Group’
Youthful Vestavia Hills Girls Basketball Team Off to Hot Start
Guard Anna Towry is the only senior on Vestavia’s girls basketball team.
By RuBin e. GRant
From the moment John David Smelser took over as Vestavia Hills’ girls head basketball coach in the spring of 2019, Emma Smith was the one player he could always count on.
But now in his fourth season, Smelser no longer has Smith around to turn to. She is a freshman at the University of Denver after finishing her high school career as the Rebels’ all-time leading scorer with more than 2,000 points while also collecting more than 1,000 rebounds.
Smith led Vestavia Hills to a 33-3 record and Class 7A runner-up finish last season.
“You can’t replace a player like her,” Smelser said. “But that’s part of being a high school coach. Kids grad-
See VESTAVIA, page 35
Eagles Flying High
By RuBin e. GRant
The Oak Mountain boys basketball team has served notice in the first three weeks of the young season that it is not ready to take a step back under new coach Joel Floyd.
The Eagles went into the Thanksgiving break with a 6-1 record, with the only loss to defending Class 7A champion Enterprise, 59-47, in the first round of the Sneaky Pete’s Rebel Classic at Vestavia Hills last week.
Oak Mountain bounced back from that loss with a 57-54 victory against Faith Academy and a 75-54 victory against Prattville to claim third place in the tournament.
“The guys are playing extremely hard and playing well on offense and defense,” Floyd said. “I am pleased with how we’ve played early in the season.”
Floyd spent the past two years as an assistant coach in boys basketball and volleyball at Spain Park. He helped the Jaguars’ basketball team reach the Final Four the past two seasons and was on the bench when Spain Park captured the 2021 Class 7A state volleyball championship.
Before that, he had been the boys
Oak Mountain center Tre Thomas, who has a 7-foot wingspan.
