This basketball season for HMS was very successful with both boys and girls basketball teams winning the metro championship, but there is much more to these accomplishments than most people think.
It was the third appearance in 4 years for the girls resulting in a win.
Head coach Teresa McGhee says the group of girls was a pleasure to coach.
“Their personalities and their desire to work is amazing,” McGhee said. “They know when to let loose and have fun, but also know when to take business seriously.”
McGhee praises the sacrifices made by the girls over the past couple of months that have led to their accomplishment.
“Over the last four months, they have sacrificed a lot of time away from family and friends and long days to come in and work,” McGhee said. “I’ll miss coaching then a lot and can’t wait to see what the future holds for this group of women.”
As for the boys, they were not only metro champions 2 years in a row but also went undefeated in both years of playing for the middle school.
For coach Michael Pruitt, this accomplishment is a result of the dedication of his team.
“It’s just the simple things,” Pruitt said. “If you come to practice on time, play hard and just play as a team, you will be successful and get winning seasons. These guys have done just that their whole time here at the middle school.”
This group’s dominance has been noticed since day one. When this group played together in Over The Mountain (OTM), a league of all of Birmingham’s suburbs playing on Sunday, in elementary years, not only had they had winning, dominant seasons every year playing together, but they went a combined record of 128-2 from 2nd to 8th grade. Here are their accomplishments:
5x OTM regular season. 39-1 overall in the regular season.
5x OTM tournament champions. 15-0 overall.
3x Jingle Bell champions. 26-1 overall.
7th grade, 24-0.
8th grade, 24-0.
Team member Reid Goldstein says that this is all based on the brotherhood that has been formed throughout the team’s tenure.
“Our brotherhood and chemistry is a big part of our accomplishments,” Goldstein said. “We have great friendships and all play for each other. We are a very deep team and there was no drop-off when there was a substitution. Everyone played a crucial role.”
This standard of greatness in both these programs hopes to translate into high school years for these groups of kids. In which they ultimately hope to bring home a state championship for the community of Homewood.
