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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Homewood’s Kayla Warren (3) shoots for a jumper in a game against Parker at Homewood High School on Jan. 13.
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Homewood’s Ellis McCool (33) shoots a layup.
The postgame stat sheet from a Homewood High School girls basketball game tells a different story nearly every night.
There are no huge scorers, and plenty of Lady Patriots players get in on the action each game.
The Lady Patriots like to use their balance and depth to their advantage, something that has worked so far in the 2023-24 season.
“It’d be a tough scouting report to put together,” head coach Gavin King said. “Who do you want to try and take away, because we’ve got multiple girls that can fill those stats?”
Kayla Warren and Mira McCool agree that those factors give the team a boost.
“We have so many threats on the court at one time, which is nice because we don’t have the burden of having to carry the team or doing everything ourselves,” Warren said.
McCool added, “We talk about depth a lot. You never know who’s going to be hot, hit a bunch of [3-pointers], have a great night, whatever. It adds a great element to our team.”
Warren, McCool and Susie Whitsett are the team’s three seniors, but Whitsett has yet to play this season as she recovers from a knee injury.
Warren and McCool have been playing on the varsity team since they were freshmen, and King arrived at Homewood ahead of their sophomore campaigns. He likens their experience to being second-year seniors, since they were the oldest players on the team last season as well.
“They’ve been big pieces all three years I’ve been here,” King said.
King inherited a young roster when he arrived at Homewood, and the experiences gained by so many players playing varsity ball so early has begun to reap benefits. Homewood entered the 2024 calendar year with a record of 16-3, notching wins over the likes of Ramsay, Briarwood, Northridge and Oak Mountain.
The Lady Patriots have not advanced past the area tournament since the 2020-21 season. Last year, they fell to Minor by five points in the opening round of the area tournament.
“We were really close last year,” King said. “We haven’t done anything magical. We’ve kept working.”
Neither Warren nor McCool are the type of personalities to be overly vocal leaders, but they each focus on setting strong examples by the way they conduct themselves at every practice and game.
“We like to lead by example,” McCool said. “The important thing is to be a friend of the younger girls, so that they can trust you and look up to you.”
One thing Warren and McCool have both experienced this season is playing with a younger sister, as Chloe Warren and Ellis McCool are also on the varsity team.
This is the first year the Warrens have played together, while the McCools have played basketball and volleyball on the same teams for many years.
Kayla Warren called it “fun but frustrating,” because she wants to see her younger sister be successful. Mira McCool said she has to remember “advice from your sister does not translate.” But they both say they have loved the opportunity to play together.
Warren will head to Auburn in the fall, while McCool has some options to play volleyball at the college level. As their basketball careers wind down, they want to go out on a high note.
“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet. We’ve been playing some really good ball, but I think we still have our best games ahead of us,” King said.
