Courtney Strain first met Spring Garden senior Paige Anderson at a basketball camp at Jacksonville State the summer between her sixth- and seventh-grade years. Strain, now a 5-foot-8 sophomore phenom at Woodland, and Anderson immediately hit it off.
"I just admired her," Strain said. "She has a great work ethic. She's a great player, and she has a great attitude. She's always had a positive attitude."
The two will compete again, albeit not on the court, as Strain was named the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 2A Player of the Year, while Anderson got the nod in Class 1A.
Both are finalists for Miss Basketball as the state's best player.
Anderson led the Panthers to a state championship and a 36-0 record, going for 24 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists a game.
She capped of a 3,000-plus-point career with a pair of punctuating performances in the Final Four at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex. She scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 46-31 win over St. Jude in the semifinals and dropped 31 points, 19 in the second half, in the Panthers' 61-44 win over McIntosh in the state final.
She has signed to play at Samford next season.
Strain averaged 40.7 points per game to go with 13.7 rebounds as she set six state records - points-per-game average, points scored in a season (1,261), field goals attempted and made (447-for-869), field goals in a game (25) and free-throws attempted in a season (407).
Woodland and Spring Garden squared off in late December, with Spring Garden winning 91-55. Strain scored 41, while Anderson went for 56.
Anderson will play in the annual Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic on Thursday at the Pelham Civic Center.
