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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Montevallo Bulldogs hope to keep moving onward and upward as they build off last season’s results while taking on new competition.

This will be the second year for the Bulldogs under coach Kevin Smith after his inaugural campaign resulted in a runner-up finish in Class 4A, Area 9 and a sub-regional matchup with Dora that they ultimately lost.

Now, as Montevallo moves up into Class 5A, Smith and the veterans are taking last season’s foundation and using it to spark more success in 2024-25.

“It is my second year with the girls and I’m excited about it,” Smith said. “We had a good offseason with a lot of buy-in during the summer workouts. So, we’re ready to get started. We’re continuing to improve and kind of continue making the changes in the improvements that we started last year as far as culture within the team and playing style. It’ll be an easier transition this year because most of them have been with me for a year and know the expectations and it’ll be an easier start to the year with some familiarity.”

One of the biggest changes the team will face is the loss of Tristan Stoutermire. She was a key part of the Bulldogs’ playstyle last season as she dominated the post for 12.6 points and 11.2 rebounds per game along with a county-high 118 blocks.

The All-County Second Team talent is off to Arkansas State now, and that leaves Montevallo as a smaller team that will lean more heavily on its guards now that the 6-foot-4 Stoutermire isn’t patrolling the frontcourt.

“We’re going to be a little different than last year,” Smith said. “Last year, we had a pretty big post presence–we’re going to be a little more guard-oriented this year. We’re a little bit smaller, but we’re a little quicker. We’re a little more athletic than we were last year, so we’re probably going to have to extend the floor some, press, get out and transition and score in transition, which will be a little different for us from last year where we were kind of pounding it inside to the post a good bit.”

Stoutermire’s dominance did come with a positive for this year as Smith said it was crucial to help guards Zabdy Perez and Yazmin Chavez come into their own as players.

Both anchored the backcourt as underclassmen last year, but now as juniors, they have valuable game experience that they gained last season without as much pressure on them to make plays.

“A lot of our offense did go through the post and through Tristan last year, but I think that allowed our players like Zabdy and Yaz to kind of develop as guards and become better guards because they didn’t have the pressure on them that they’re gonna have on them this year when they’re expected to kind of carry the load a little bit more offensively,” Smith said.

Expect Perez to lead the way in scoring from the point guard spot while Chavez sets the team’s energy level with her defense. Both will be key in an aggressive, uptempo, transition-oriented style along with freshman backup point guard Mckiyah Cathey later in the year.

“Defense is going to be our strength,” Smith said. “The fact that we’re going to be pretty athletic and pretty quick is going to give us an advantage. One thing we’ve got to improve on this year is being more efficient offensively and running our stuff and scoring off of that, so while we’re getting better at that, it’s going to be important for us to be able to press and be able to turn people over and convert some easy points because that’s a real area for growth for us that.

With defense being such a key part of their identity, that means Chavez will be heavily relied upon as one of the team’s better defenders.

Chavez believes that the key to a great season will be getting the team’s various pieces to play well together under Smith’s leadership.

“How we’re going to have success is by communicating and being positive and staying on track and listening to our coach,” Chavez said.

Smith agrees with Chavez and said that chemistry is the biggest factor to their success, especially given their youth.

There are no seniors on the Bulldogs this year, with four juniors leading the way for a team made up by a majority of underclassmen. Lots of those younger players lack experience in Smith’s system, meaning they will have to learn quickly as the year starts.

“We want to play fast, we want to play aggressive, and that means we need to be able to play eight or nine, 10 girls in the rotation, and right now, we’re not ready to do that, but hopefully by the end of the season we will be,” Smith said. “So I think if we can bring those young players along and get them into the system and get them playing to the standard that our juniors are going to set for us, I think we’ll be successful if we can play as a team and kind of share the ball and share the load and bring those young girls along. I think we’ll be alright.”

To succeed this season, Montevallo needs to navigate a brand-new area filled with Class 5A mainstays, including a Selma side that was strong last year, a Demopolis team that Smith believes matches up well with his group and the return of the Jemison rivalry.

While the challenge is different, the goal remains the same: advance to the state tournament as one of the final two teams left standing in the area.

“I think the area is a little bit tougher this year than it was last year, as far as who we’re matched up against. But I still think our goal is to finish in the top two and make it to the next round of the playoffs,” Smith said. “I think it’s an achievable goal. I think it’ll be a tough one. I think the four teams are all pretty even, but we’re going to get out there and do our best.”

While the road ahead won’t be easy and success is never guaranteed, Perez has faith that if they continue to play to their capability and trust Smith, they’ll reach their potential.

“I just hope for the best season we can play, just play the best defense and offense that we could do,” Perez said. “To be successful, I think that we just need to listen to our coach and whatever he goes off, we just need to play by that and just to play a fast tempo game and just try to do the best that we can do.”

The Bulldogs will start their season on Thursday, Nov. 7 when they host the Briarwood Christian Lions at 6 p.m.