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It’s a grind, according to senior guard Bailey Bowers.

Those fall workouts and practices that coincide with the morning sunrise don’t always seem necessary in the moment. It’s difficult to summon the discipline to sacrifice sleep and put in the work, aiming for a goal that seems far off. 

“You just have to remind yourself that it’s going to be worth it,” said Bowers.

On March 3, 2018, it all paid off for the Spain Park High School girls basketball team. A year after a loss to crosstown rival Hoover in the Class 7A state championship game, the Lady Jags grabbed the trophy themselves.

“All conditioning, all practice, it came up at least five times,” Bowers said. “It was our motivation for everything.”

Spain Park didn’t allow McGill-Toolen any measure of belief that day, as the Lady Jags dominated from opening tip to final buzzer, winning 56-26. That victory came as a result of those hours dedicated long before the moment under the lights at the BJCC. 

“It takes discipline and a lot of focus and hard work,” said Ahrielle Parks, who will form a senior starting backcourt with Bowers. 

Every team’s ultimate goal at a season’s outset is a state title. So, it would be easy for Spain Park to rest on its laurels after capturing the first girls basketball title in program history. The Lady Jags hope that it has the opposite effect. 

“Once you get a taste of it, you want more,” Bowers said. “You don’t forget that feeling.”

Spain Park knows the rest of 7A will be looking to dethrone the reigning champions.

“Now we have a target on our back, but you can’t let your guard down,” Bowers said. “You can’t think you’re the best. Even though we won it all, you’ve got to find a way to keep getting better.”

After losing a pair of Division I players off last year’s squad in Claire Holt (Richmond) and Barrett Herring (USC Upstate), Parks believes some may be counting out the Lady Jags. And she’s fine with that. 

“I feel that’s only given us room to grow as individuals,” she said. “It’s showing you the different responsibility and roles you can take on to help the team as a whole to get back to state.”

Parks and Bowers are two who will move into slightly larger roles, as two of three seniors for the Lady Jags this season. Tori Hunter is the third, as the 6-foot-3 forward transferred to Spain Park from Hoover in the summer.

That’s before mentioning Sarah Ashlee Barker, who was a key cog on last year’s team and who head coach Mike Chase believes is the best player in the state. Barker’s college recruitment heated up in the summer, and she narrowed her choices to Alabama, Auburn and Georgia. In early October, she announced her commitment to Georgia.

“I’ve got three really good, experienced kids to build around,” Chase said of Barker, Bowers and Parks.

Chase said there have been no issues in the summer with players buying into new roles and complementing each other well. Seniors like Bowers and Parks have done a solid job of teaching the younger players.

Parks said she wants to improve her communication skills on the floor and Bowers said she needs to “talk more” in her final year.

“Senior leadership is very important,” said Parks, “because the younger players look up to you. I prefer to lead by example, so they’re going to see how you act, they’re going to see how you respond to different situations in games and see you how you treat other people.”

The talent on the Lady Jags’ roster is spread out from eighth through 12th grades. Kamryn Corey is the other junior beside Barker. Forward Caroline Keith and guard Avery Masdon are sophomores who played with the varsity team last season. Stephanie Tooson is another sophomore who will give the Lady Jags depth in the frontcourt.

Freshmen Camille Chase and Mackenzie Culpepper are two athletic guards who will see the court this year and appear to be on track to provide significant production in the years to come. Haley Russell and Kristen McMillan are eighth-graders who have impressed as well.

“I think we’re on the verge of being as athletic a Spain Park team in the next couple years than ever,” Mike Chase said.

Spain Park likely won’t go undefeated, and Mike Chase can live with that. The team’s tough schedule last season prepared it for the state tournament and will do so once again this season if the Lady Jags make it that far. On tap this year, they will play Hoover twice, Ramsay twice, Hewitt-Trussville likely a handful of times with the two teams being area foes, and Madison Academy.

The Lady Jags open their title defense on Nov. 8, as they host Huffman at 6 p.m.

“I’m very excited,” Parks said. “I think we have a very good outlook for the season. I just want to be able to go back and play at the BJCC just one more time and get a ring again, because it’s an amazing experience that we had last year.”