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2024-25 Season Recap

The 2024-25 proved to be another successful campaign for McT girls basketball. The Lady Jackets finished the season 23-7, losing to eventual state champion Park Crossing in the Elite Eight. But the journey along the way was packed with memorable victories and moments on and off the court. 

The Lady Jackets started the season 5-1with big wins over Davidson and Murphy while playing with just seven healthy players. Sophomore Reagan Burroughs, 2024 All-State center. returned from an ankle injury early December while senior captain point guard Anna McCarron returned to action in January. With the team finally at full strength, the Lady Jackets finished the season on 13-1 run and ranked 3rd in the state among 6A teams. During that stretch, they dominated area play capturing their fifth consecutive 6A Area Championship; winning both the regular season and tournament title with an 8-0 record. The Lady Jackets averaged 64 points game in area and held area opponents under 40 points game.  

In their sub-regional matchup vs Saraland, the Lady Jackets trailed by 5points at halftime. But outscored Saraland 29-10 with a suffocating fullcort press enroute to a 42-28 win. In their Sweet Sixteen game, the team faced Pike Road who eliminated them at the buzzer the previous year. The Lady Jackets led the entire game until Pike Road tied the  game under a minute to go. But the Lady Jackets outscored Pike Road by six in overtime for the redemption victory. 

Sophomore Kam Wright led the team in scoring with 10.8 points per game in just her first season. Wright was named to the Area and Regional All-tournament team. She also earned All-Coastal and 3rd team All-State honors. Burroughs and freshman Makayla Johnson joined Wright on the Area and Regional All-Tournament team with Johnson earning Area tournament MVP; Johnson averaged 15points in the tournament. The young trio were also named to the Mobile All County team this year. 

The Class of 2025 certainly left their mark on the Lady Jacket season and history. They won 101 games during their tenure including four Area and one Regional Championships in 2023 to advance to the State Tournament. Jayde Dempsey and Albanie Dixon were both named to the 2024 Mobile All County team. Dempsey led the team in assists this year while Dixon signed a basketball scholarship with the University of Mobile in February. Fellow seniors Bailee Smith and McCarron not only contributed on the court but led the way in the classroom. Both were members of the prestigious National Honor Society; Smith with a 3.9 GPA and McCarron maintained a 4.2 for four years. 

In the classroom, an impressive 17-20 girls’ basketball student-athletes have 3.0 or higher including 10 with 3.5 or better. Five Lady Jackets have a 4.0 or better; joining McCarron are Wright, Clara Schmohl, Emma Burkett, Lacey Owens with team leading 4.49 GPA. The Lady Jackets return six varsity players, including three starters.

Women's Basketball Head Coach Carla Berry

Coach Carla Berry just finished her 15th season as the head girls’ basketball coach of the McGill-Toolen Catholic High School Lady Jackets. During her tenure the team has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen ten times, captured five 6A Area Championships, five 6A Area tournament titles and five 7A regular season and tournament championships along with eight South Regional Championships and Final Four appearances.  In 2018, 2016 and 2015 the Lady Jackets were the 7A State Runner-up losing to Jeff Davis 54-53 in 2015 in a thrilling inaugural 7A title game. Berry has compiled a 368-113 record with a .766 winning percentage.  In 2017-18, after leading a young team with no seniors to a 25-9 record and to the state finals, Berry was named the ASWA 2018 7A Coach of the Year.  Berry also won the same award in 2015 as well as the Ron Findley Coach of the Year with a 33-3.  Berry is a 1988 graduate of McGill where she was a four year letterwinner in basketball under legendary Coach Becky Dickinson. In her senior season, Berry helped lead the 29-0 Lady Jackets to a 6A State Championship and a No.6 USA Today national ranking; earning 6A All State honors. She continued her career as a student-athlete at Louisiana State University. During her LSU career, Berry made three NCAA tournament appearances and was a member of LSU's first SEC Tournament Championship team in 1991. Berry was a three time receiptant of the LSU Athletic Director’s Cup for Academic Excellence and a member of the 1992 SEC All Academic Team. In 1993 she earned a Bachelors in Mass Communication, Advertising. Berry's coaching resume spans 11 years on the collegiate level including stops at South Alabama, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, St. John's and LSU. In her six years as recruiting coordinator at LSU, Berry helped recruit three nationally top five classes culminating into one SEC Tournament title, three SEC Championships and five consecutive Final Four appearances.  Berry coached 11 players at LSU who played professionally in the WNBA. Three of Berry's LSU players won WNBA Championships, Temeka Johnson, Seimone Augustus (3) and Sylvia Fowles (2).  Augustus(3) and Fowles(4) are both Olympic Gold Medalist and members of the LSU, Women's Basketball and Naismith Hall Of Fame. During her tenure at McGill, Berry has had several players earned college scholarships to continue their basketball careers; Nya Valentine(Clemson/Shelton State), Shauntai Battle(Samford), Rekha Berry(Tennessee State), Lauren McKee(Alabama A&M), Ryan Sylvester(University of Mobile), Kinstin Davis(Huntingdon), Raquel Waller(Sewanee), and  Sarah Pierre(Coastal Alabama) and Albanie Dixon(University of Mobile). Berry of a member of the McGill-Toolen Hall of Fame.