MA doubles team tops school record 100 individual match wins

John Alford (left) and Jackson Brown became the first players in Montgomery Academy history to win 100 doubles matches in school history this season. The two are paired as the No. 3 doubles team for the school. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Three years ago, Montgomery Academy senior John Alford teamed up with Jackson Brown to win their second consecutive state championship at No. 3 doubles in Class 6A.

Competitive Balance Factor has bumped the Eagles up to 7A and Alford and Brown are now playing No. 1 doubles. So would the pair rather be the favorite to win a state championship as a lower seed or competing in the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s highest classification and its highest seed?

“I’d like to think of it as I’d rather play No. 1 and have a state championship,” Alford said. “Last year, we lost in the first round of the state tournament and it was to Vestavia’s No. 1 doubles, who we beat in the (regular) season. We lost on a third set tiebreaker and that team went on and swept the whole tournament with zero difficulty. That’s who our competition is and that’s the only team we’ve lost to this season. So if we can get by Vestavia, I think it’s going to be smooth sailing.

“As we’ve gotten used to (Class7A), we’ve started to adopt that No. 1 doubles playstyle. We’ve learned to play against some of the best doubles players and that’s why we’re 22-1 this season.”

The pair continue to make history as the top doubles team at Montgomery Academy. Last weekend, Alford became the first player in school history to have 100 career doubles victories, improving to 106-12 with Wednesday’s victory over LAMP.

Brown became the second player in school history with 100 career doubles victories after hitting the century mark (100-13) on Wednesday against LAMP.

“We’ve stressed doubles the last few years because it’s so important and everybody is really playing good doubles this year,” Montgomery Academy coach David Bethea said. “It’s just been a big plus for us and they’re one of the best doubles teams we’ve ever had because of the way they get along. They’ve been playing No. 1 doubles for three years now.”

As a doubles tandem, the pair have a record of 97-12 -- currently a school record -- and will cross the 100-win plateau as a tandem at some point this month.

“Honestly, this may be a little cliche, but it’s kind of like having your brother there,” Alford said. “Sometimes, you’ll argue with your brother or fight with your brother, but he’s still your brother. We’ve been together every day, during the offseason, during the season, playing doubles since the seventh grade. We really do know how each other thinks and we know what our strengths and weaknesses are and how to play around those.”   

Both have been playing tennis at Montgomery Academy since the seventh grade. Alford was a seventh grader in 2020 and is now a six-year starter on a championship contender.

“His seventh grade year, he was having a great year when Covid hit,” Bethea recalled. “He got cheated out of that. We felt like we would have won a state championship that year. John’s been around for six years. He’s the leader of our team, always gives great effort. He’s an amazing student, president of the Student Council, just a great guy.”

The next season, Alford won the 6A championship at No. 4 singles as an eighth grader. He teamed up with Brown to win a state championship at No. 3 doubles as well.

“It all started my seventh grade year,” Brown said. “We meshed well together as soon as we started playing together and we really haven’t looked back. Our connection started early and it’s gotten better and better over the years.”

The following year, Alford and Brown repeated their performance in doubles, winning the 6A championship at No. 3 doubles.

“They’re both good doubles players,” Bethea said. “They both have kind of a different style, but it works really well together. The big thing in doubles is communication and they do a really good job of that.”

Alford has 84 wins as a singles player, but enjoys the team environment more,

“I’ve never been much of a singles guy myself,” Alford said. “I’ve always had a doubles-centered mindset. If I ever lose my doubles match, it puts me in the worst mood for singles. Doubles has always been a priority for me.

“I started off in Class 5A but that was a Covid year, so I really had to start off in 6A. It really threw me into a tough environment but I think playing that from the get-go, it’s really molded me. Now I’m an upperclassman and I really have  a lot of experience playing against some of the best players in the state from some of the biggest schools in the state.”

Brown, a junior, has 78 singles wins but has never considered whether he would have the same level of success with another doubles partner.

“I would really never know because we’ve played with each other our entire career,” Brown said. “I don’t know what it would be like to play with someone else.”

Montgomery Academy will be competing with section rivals Auburn and Enterprise for the two state tournament qualifying spots in a little over a week, but for the past two years the Class 7A state tournament in Mobile has featured a Who’s Who of tennis talent that has stopped the private school -- which would be in Class 2A based on enrollment -- from seriously challenging for a state championship.

Before Competitive Balance Factor, Montgomery Academy amassed 15 Class 1A-3A state championships. Since its introduction in 2018, the Eagles have two championships -- one in 4A-5A in 2019 and one in 6A in 2021.

“This is the age-old question,” Alford said. “Having 60 people in a class, 300 in the school, playing schools that have 2,000 people, it’s always been our go-to excuse. But as we’ve gone on, as we’ve faced these really good teams, winning just becomes that much sweeter.

“This may be bold to say, but I definitely think we would win 1A to 5A. So I like to have the challenge. Not that I wouldn’t be challenged in the other divisions, but this is such a different animal. At the end of the day, it’s about the satisfaction and the feeling you get from winning. I think that comes over tenfold from playing in a division like 6A or 7A.”

Montgomery Academy returns virtually every player from last year’s team, which would make it an obvious favorite to win a state championship in the lower divisions. In 7A, their school size makes them the longshot despite the talent.

“It’s definitely different,” Brown said. “We get to see all the schools everyone knows. It’s real interesting to talk to some of them and see how many (students) are in their grade. It’s usually a ridiculous amount. But wherever we’re put, we just try to compete the best we can.

“I think it definitely helps our drive that no one really knows us and a lot of schools think we’re the underdog because of the amount of people we have at our school.”