The word rebuilding never entered the minds of Reed Fulgham or Chandler Honnoll.
It didn’t occur to Brady Scarbrough, either, that the Victory Christian Academy boys basketball team was supposed to take a step back after losing high-scoring Anthony Sharp, Cody Bolton, and three other seniors from a team that lost only one game.
Even after losing the first two games of the season to Oak Hill Academy and Tupelo Christian, Victory Christian never wavered. When you play at break-neck speed and dare opponents to try to keep up for 32 minutes, you usually have a big advantage against most teams.
Victory Christian showed just how big an edge they had on everyone else this past weekend, beating Providence, Tabernacle Christian, and two-time reigning champion and undefeated Union Chapel to win the Alabama Christian Athletic Association championship in Oxford, Alabama.
Scarbrough, a junior, led Victory Christian (25-5) with 39 points in the title game, while sophomore Chase Gore had 25, Honnoll had 10, and Montrell Neil had nine in a 92-79 victory on Saturday night.
In a 53-50 victory against Tabernacle on Friday, Scarbrough had 19 points, while Gore had 16 and Neil had eight.
For his accomplishments, Scarbrough is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“At the beginning of the year, I don’t know if everybody thought this, but I thought we would walk into a gym and win every game because of who we are, and we didn’t,” Scarbrough said. “It felt like nobody could beat us if we played to our full ability. It felt like we couldn’t lose because everybody was clicking and everybody was scoring.”
Scarbrough admitted the Eagles didn’t play to their ability at the beginning of the season. But a tougher schedule that featured games against Columbus Christian, Pickens County, Hatley, and two more matchups against Tupelo Christian helped get Victory Christian back on track.
While Scarbrough took over the high-scoring role left by Sharp, who has moved on to play with Bolton on the junior varsity men’s basketball team at Blue Mountain College, the Eagles also received solid contributions from a number of players. Neil and Honnoll helped control the paint and the backboards. Fulgham, Honnoll, Chase Austin, Beau Riley, and Will Porter, provided the senior leadership, while Gore and Garrett Anthony, another sophomore, added extra scoring punch. It all combined to be a potent mix for first-year head coach Heath Simpson, who served as an assistant coach to Brent Harris last season.
“I just knew I had some kids who liked to play,” said Simpson, who coached the Victory Christian junior varsity team to two state titles. “I really didn’t get the maybe we can win this thing feeling until the Final Four (of the ACAA State tournament). I told my guys to keep playing no matter what the other team is going to get tired and quit on you.”
Simpson said he never considered changing the Eagles’ fast-paced tempo. He even didn’t hesitate when asked if his team was going to try to run with two-time reigning champion Union Chapel, a team that also likes to press full court. Union Chapel entered the title game undefeated, but that didn’t faze Simpson or the Eagles.
“I knew we could beat them if we played ball,” Simpson said. “I think my kids knew that, too. As soon as the ball tipped off, it was on. That was their style, too, so we kind of beat them at their own game.”
Last season, Victory Christian entered the state tournament undefeated only to lose to First Assembly Christian School in the semifinals. That loss served as motivation for this year’s group, especially the seniors.
Fulgham, who played quarterback on the school’s football team, said a strong second unit moved into bigger roles this season. He also said the team had comparable depth this year to the 2014-15 squad. That depth made it easier for the Eagles to push tempo against anyone at any time, even on the biggest stage.
“We just did the same thing we have done all year,” Fulgham said. “We were pretty determined that we were going to go out with a win.”
Honnoll said “determination” was the key to the Eagles’ run in the state tournament. He said he believed Victory Christian could make another championship run because it had plenty of young potential.
Honnoll wasn’t surprised when Scarbrough filled in for Sharp, who averaged around 30 points a game last season, and became the team’s go-to player.
“Brady is a heck of a basketball player and a heck of a guy,” Honnoll said. “Everybody loves Brady. He is just a great ballplayer. Coming out averaging over 30 points a ballgame, that is ridiculous.
“He is a heck of an athlete. He has the heart of a basketball player. If he keeps that and just keeps his head on straight, he will be one of the best that has ever come through here.”
Scarbrough also might have the biggest sneaker collection of any player to come through Victory Christian. With 30-40 pairs at home, Scarbrough showed a little flair in the final three games of the season, wearing Kevin Durant sneakers that were red and black on one side and white and black on the other side Thursday and Friday. He broke out a pair of pink and white Kyrie Irving sneakers for the title game that didn’t clash with the team’s white and crimson home jerseys.
“I just like my shoes to stand out,” Scarbrough said.
Even though is point totals rose from last season, Scarbrough said his role this season wasn’t very different from last season because he was expected to score last season. When he needed help this season, he said Gore stepped up and provided scoring punch. The final combination turned out to be one that eschewed conventional wisdom and turned what could have been a rebuilding season into a championship run to remember.
“It felt great,” Scarbrough said. “We didn’t play that great Friday, but we played great Saturday and Thursday.
“(The state title game) was one of those games where everybody was playing to their full ability.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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