Irondale- The Mountain Brook Spartans (12-7, 1-1) came into the game against Shades Valley (14-5, 1-1) as the 7th ranked team in 6A and left with a 60-49 loss.
Before the game, Angela Williams was honored for scoring 1,000 career points. Before the evening was over, the junior added 21 more points to her total, along with 11 rebounds and 6 steals.
Mountain Brook jumped out to an 11-2 in the first five minutes of the game. The Mounties battled back and cut the lead to 13-10 at the end of the opening period.
Shades Valley turned up the intensity on both ends of the court in the second period and outscored the Spartans 15-7 to take a 25-20 lead into the break.
Shades Valley pushed their lead to seven points early in the 3rd quarter, but the Spartans were able to cut into the lead and junior Sarah Passink hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to one with 3:05 remaining in the period. Mountain Brook then took a one-point lead at the 2:30 mark and extended it to three points with 1:38 remaining. The Mounties put together a run and took a 42-37 lead as the period came to a close.
Shades Valley turned up the defensive intensity and took advantage of their trips to the free throw line, and pulled away to a 60-49 victory.
Shades Valley head coach Gary Ferguson was happy with the way his girls played. “We played a complete game,” he said. “We had other people to step up and we shot the ball a lot better from the free throw line.”
Kyliah Ravizee had 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals and Kiya Crayton scored 15 points to complement Williams for the Mounties.
Shades Valley plays Cornerstone Tuesday night and hosts region foe Pell City Friday for Senior Night.
The RED & BLACK 