Former Players Sharpe and Saxton Lead Fairfield’s Football, Girls Basketball Programs

By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. | For the Birmingham Times

When young sports fans of Fairfield High Preparatory School talk about the good old days, they might only think about the beginning of boys basketball success under coach Maurice Ford. But Jazmine Saxton and Rex Sharpe know better.

They are former Fairfield Tiger athletes who experienced success in their playing days. They — Saxton as the girls basketball coach and Sharpe preparing for his first season leading the Fairfield football team — have returned to their alma mater with plans to duplicate the recent success of boys basketball.

Saxton had a similar view from the mountaintop as Ford’s hoops squad. Her Tigers won the 2010 Class 5A championship and she was instrumental in her team scaling that height.

“It was special because the previous year we fell short in the Elite Eight,” she said. “I remember doing an interview — I can’t remember who I did the interview with — but I told them we will be back, and we ended up coming back, ended up making it to the Elite Eight and then I hit a game-winning shot to send us to the Final Four.”

A March 2010 story on AL.com told of Saxton’s repeated heroics in the Northwest Regional tournament. She hit a pair of free throws to lift Fairfield to a 47-45 victory over Hartselle in the semifinal and then knocked down a buzzer-beating bank shot 3-pointer in a 46-45 win over Russellville in the final.

The point guard, who was The Birmingham News’ West Area Player of the Year in 2010, also nailed a 3-pointer with 2:17 left to give Fairfield a lead over Carver-Montgomery it would relinquish in the championship game.

“It was just a great feeling to be able to bring it back to Fairfield,” Saxton said. “I know what Fairfield girls basketball program has been; it’s been a winning program. It (had) great teams before then. To be able to bring it back and finish what everybody else couldn’t finish was a great feeling.”

“It felt like family”

Sharpe, who was in Fairfield’s Class of 2005, said the biggest thing that his Tigers had in his playing days was family.

“It felt like family,” he said. “We all — from ninth grade to 12th grade — we all got along. I think that was the biggest thing.”

Fairfield football didn’t reach the summit when Sharpe suited up as a linebacker, wide receiver and occasional kicker. But they got better.

“When we turned it around here, we went from 0-10 to third round playoffs by the time I was a senior,” he said. “It was great.”

The football coach said it’s important to him that he can relate to playing for Fairfield.

“I’m someone they can see themselves in,” he said. “I walked the same halls, I walked the same streets, I played on the same field and sat in the same desks. It’s very important because now they can see someone that’s from here actually can make it, can come back and give back.”

Sharpe said he’s encouraged by the love and the commitment of the city.

“It is still here. It doesn’t seem like it, but it’s still here,” he said. “That is my goal, to bring it back out. That’s why I want all the city involvement, from community to the board to City Hall. I want everybody to feel welcome. It’s an open-door policy for me. Anybody want to come visit, talk, sit down, I welcome you. I want everybody to feel like it’s home.”

The current Fairfield girls basketball coach said it’s not just about winning for her. She wants to impact her players the way her coach — former Fairfield point guard Tiffany Frederick — impacted her.

“Yes, I want to win,” Saxton said. “I hate losing but I just wanted to make sure that at least I got the program back into structure and at least get it to where these girls are learning and getting better. I understand that it’s not just about basketball. It’s bigger than basketball. It’s teaching life lessons through basketball.”