Finding solace in tough loss

By Staff
Todd Thompson, Sports Editor
Brewer finished one win from reaching the state tournament and here was the team’s head coach explaining his overwhelming feeling of pride.
Few teams win regional championships. In fact, just 24 teams will be in Birmingham this week when the state tournament opens at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
Yet in a small room in a hallway away from the court at Tom Drake Coliseum in Hanceville, Lady Patriots’ head coach Ricky Allen chose his words carefully in the wake of a 57-39 loss to Wenonah in the Class 5A Northwest Regional championship game Saturday morning.
The team that won the Morgan County tournament and added an area title got on the bus Saturday with a season-ending loss.
The stat sheet that Allen held tightly in his hand really did nothing to condense the successes, failures, trials and tribulations of a season that had started back in November.
They played through pain, both physical and mental.
The Lady Patriots weren’t the same after Mark Towns was killed in a car accident. Certainly they weren’t the same after leading scorer Emily Dabbs was lost to a season-ending injury.
Few teams win state titles. Even fewer finish with a sense of accomplishment, like the Lady Patriots did Saturday.
Sports editor Todd Thompson can be reached at 773-6566 or by email at todd.thompson@hartselleenquirer.com