Photo by Erin Nelson
Spain Park's Jordyn Corey (23) dribbles the ball downcourt in a game against Hewitt-Trussville on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
John Hadder built the Vincent High School boys basketball program into a perennial contender. Hadder took Vincent to 12 area titles in the 14 years he coached there, advancing to the state final four twice and finishing as the state runner-up once.
When he retired following last season, he didn’t know what would come next. Until he got a call from Spain Park, asking him to take on the task of leading the girls program.
Although Hadder had not previously coached a girls program, he accepted the job and took over a program that won a Class 7A state championship as recently as 2020, but has since fallen on hard times.
Spain Park won state titles in 2017-18 and 2019-20, but the Lady Jags won just one game last season and Hadder has been tasked with rebuilding the program.
“Even though there have been a lot of challenges, I enjoy it,” he said. “I enjoy getting here every morning.”
Like many coaches inheriting a situation requiring a rebuild, there is always the difficult balance of attempting to win now versus building for the future. The Lady Jags have a pair of seniors this season in Zyian Heyligar and Indiana Gannett, although Gannett will miss the season with an injury.
“We’re dedicated to getting this thing turned around, but it’s going to be a process,” Hadder said. “It’s going to take a few years. We’re just going to build toward that. We can get better as the year goes on.”
The roster has several juniors, headlined by Jordyn Corey and Tori Flournoy, who played key roles last season. Trinity Daniels, Mary Cothran Hunter and Campbell Busby are part of that group as well.
Spain Park will even have a pair of seventh graders playing a big part this season, with guards Ava Leonard and Nylah Calhoun showing plenty of promise and potential.
“They both have real high ceilings,” Hadder said. “We just went ahead and made the decision that they were going to come up and play on our varsity.”
Adriana Britt, Teagan Huey, Kamia Dawsey, Alyssa Cole, Zadi Thompson-McWhorter and Lynlee Franks are also on the team this year.
With his team, Hadder emphasizes playing tough defense. Even when shots don’t fall, the saying goes, “defense travels.”
“If you can be gritty and tough, you’ll at least give yourself a chance the nights you aren’t great offensively,” he said.
Over the first two months of the season, the Lady Jags will challenge themselves with teams like Vestavia Hills, Helena, Pell City, Clay-Chalkville, Hoover and Mountain Brook. Games like that will certainly serve to help the team improve.
“I’m hoping that by the time January rolls around, we have started to jell to where things are second nature. How that translates into results, I can’t speak to that, but if you do those things well [operate offensively and play strong defense], it gives you a chance to find success,” Hadder said.
The Lady Jags will take on Chelsea, Hewitt-Trussville and Oak Mountain in Class 7A, Area 6 play.
“I’m excited to be here and excited to turn things around,” Hadder said. “We’ve got some kids that want to do that. I’m excited to see how far we can go from where we are and what we look like later on.”
