SUMMER BASKETBALL: Smaller lineup has experienced Lions adopting a new playing style
Story By Jason Bowen
The 2025-26 Section basketball team features plenty of talent and varsity experience, but something Derek Wynn’s club doesn’t have is traditional low-post size.
And that had Wynn’s attention this summer wanting to see how his team could guard others that did.
Wynn said Section’s new style looks similar to the one it was forced to use in the Class 2A state semifinals, when it lost its “two bigs” to foul trouble and injury respectively. Playing with a smaller lineup, the Lions rallied to take a fourth-quarter lead before falling short against Tuscaloosa Academy.
While one of those “bigs” returns, the other, 6-foot-6 Kyler Stewart, graduated this spring, and the Lions will feature a smaller lineup this coming season. And while that changed Section’s defensive approach, Wynn said it did not change their defensive results during summer play.
“Kyler graduated and Brodie (Overdear) was out (with an injury), so we played small,” Wynn said. “But it was good to see us have to defend that way. It looked like (against) Tuscaloosa Academy, but we had a better idea of when to double and when to help. I thought we did a good job with it. We were able to guard post players without a big and we did a good job of rebounding too.”
Section is coming off a 27-6 season in which it won the Class 2A Area 16 Tournament title and the Class 2A Northeast Regional championship on the way to reaching the 2A Final Four for the first time since winning the state crown in 2021-22.
Section had 10 players take the court in varsity action this summer, including returning starters Jackson Leroy, Tyler Green and Jackson Cooper, who was the Jackson County Co-Player of the Year — returning starter Overdear missed summer action because of an injury — and reserves Aaron Thomas, Aiden Thomas and Luke Swinford while welcoming junior varsity promotees Cooper Williams and Landon Vaughn along with Skyline transfer Jake Cloud, an all-county selection a year ago, and Pisgah transfer Cameron Tinker.
The Lions, whose roster will include seven seniors, played games this summer at Supreme Courts in Guntersville, Jacksonville State and UAB before closing out their summer competition in Hunstville High School’s 16-team Big Red Summer Jam tournament June 17. Section reached the semifinals of the tournament thanks to wins over Class 6A Mae Jemison and Page (Tennessee) before losing to 6A Hazel Green in the semifinals.
Among Section’s wins this summer were victories against Class 6A Mortimer Jordan, 5A Arab, 4A’s Anniston and DAR and 2A’s Horseshoe Bend, Red Bay and Vincent while splitting matchups with 2024-25 Class 1A state semifinalist Oakwood Adventist Academy.
“Offensively we got up a lot of shots. We’re probably going to shoot so many 3s it would make (3-point shot proponent Alabama head coach) Nate Oats blush,” Wynn joked. “We’ve got a lot of guys that can make them. Even in games we weren’t making as many, our defense was able to grind and get us a win.”
Wynn said the Lions achieved their primary goal of continued improvement throughout their summer competition period.
“We made some big strides from the first few days to the end,” he said. “We saw a mixture of teams — big teams, fast teams, slow-paced teams — which we needed to see. I think it was one of the better summers we’ve had in a long time.”
