The Homewood boys basketball team lost to the Mountain Brook Spartans on Tuesday at Pete Mathews Coliseum during the second round of regional finals.
The Patriots put up a valuable effort, but couldn’t match up against the elite offensive performance by Mountain Brook as they fell 55-49 in the Northeast Regional Finals.
The first quarter displayed some offensive fire from both squads. However, the Spartans came out on top 18-13.
It was the same story in the second quarter. Both teams were ecstatic from the three-point line. Although the Patriots were phenomenal at scoring the ball, they couldn’t stop Mountain Brook from getting points on the board.
The first half ended with a six-point deficit for Homewood. Mountain Brook led 30-24 at halftime.
Both teams carried the same energy from the first half into the second. However, Mountain Brook out-rebounded and outscored Homewood 14-9 in the period to gain a 44-33 lead at the end of the quarter.
The final quarter began with a defensive battle, with both teams going scoreless for the first two minutes.
However, Kaleb Carson broke the drought by drawing the lead down to single digits for the Patriots with under six minutes to play in the contest. Shortly after a Spartan charge, Jeremiah Gary scored for Homewood to make it a close game with a Homewood deficit of seven.
The Patriots were not finished.
Daniel Vinson went one for two from the free throw line shortly after and Carson scored three consecutive points to bring the Spartan lead down to four.
As the crowd of red was getting excited for a potential Patriot comeback, Mountain Brook’s Carson Romero hit back-to-back threes to draw momentum back toward the Spartans with under two minutes to play.
Homewood would not back down as Kaleb Carson and Jeremiah Gary scored layups to keep giving the Spartans a fight. But Mountain Brook was perfect at the line to help them get closer to victory.
A final rebound for the Spartans sealed the win for Mountain Brook. The sea of neon and green rose in excitement as their team was headed back to the BJCC for the second year in a row.
While the loss is devastating to many people, including the players on the team, Homewood Head Coach Tim Shepler took some time to recognize and honor the work put in by the senior class of Will Pope, Jarryd Cline, David Stone, Turner Gray, Jake Stephens and Jeremiah Gary, along with the impact that they made on this team.
“We talked to them about leaving a legacy to this program and they have done just that,” Shepler said. “They did it the right way. They competed hard. They can leave this program with their heads high.”
Senior and Maryville commit David Stone will miss this team.
“I will miss the family we formed on and off the court. It was remarkable what we accomplished,” Stone said. “We created such a bond and I will never forget it. It’s hard to believe we won’t ever play on the same team again”
Homewood was led by Kaleb Carson with 12 points.
Creighton signee Ty Davis led Mountain Brook in scoring with 11 points.
The Spartans improve to 26-7 and will face Carver-Montgomery in the Final Four, who defeated Park Crossing in the South Regional.
Homewood ends its season at 24-9.
