BOYS BASKETBALL

Oak Mountain 53, Hoover 51: Oak Mountain (9-0) remained unbeaten as the No. 4 Eagles downed Area 6 rival Hoover in a close game. Andrew Chesney’s double-double helped vault the Eagles over the Bucs as Chesney finished the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Gallimore and Micah McKinney both added 12 points apiece for the Eagles. Oak Mountain will play in the Shelby County Tournament Dec. 20-23.

Cornerstone 57, Warrior 50: Jonathan McKinney scored 17 points as the Chargers downed Warrior for the first time in head coach Tim Smith’s tenure. &uot;We felt like it was a pretty big win for us,&uot; Smith said. Down nine points at the half, Cornerstone’s defense took over and held Warrior to just four points in the third quarter. Ty Youngblood also had 15 points while Jamal Prentice added 10 points in the win.

Calera 79, Shades Mountain 32: Vanderbilt commitment George Drake helped pace the No. 3 Eagles (7-2) over Shades Mountain as the senior led all scorers with 21 points. Calera will play in the Shelby County Tournament Dec. 20-23 before playing in the Pelham Invitational Dec. 27-29.

Indian Springs 53, Fultondale 46: Indian Springs improved to 6-3 as John Bains led all scorers with 20 points. Nick Pihakis also had a big night with 17 points, five rebounds, five steals and five assists. Indian Springs will not play again until Jan. 7 when they host St. Clair.

Spain Park 48, Mountain Brook 43: The Jaguars improved to 3-1 in Area 6 play Friday as Phillip Williams and Patrick Wells both scored nine points each.

Shades Valley 62, Thompson 61: The Warriors lost a thriller on a last-second lay-up and fell to 4-6 as Michael Hall paced Thompson with 19 points. Patrick Lofthus also had 11 points in the loss. Hall is averaging 10 points per game while Lofthus is averaging five and a half rebounds per game. Thompson will play in the Shelby County Tournament Dec. 20-23 before the Warriors have a chance at revenge in the Shades Valley Tournament Dec. 27-30.

Vestavia Hills 46, Pelham 36: Michael Adams led Pelham with 14 points as the Panthers fell to the Area 6 rival Rebels. Pelham will play in the Shelby County Tournament Dec. 20-23.

Coosa Valley Christmas Tournament

Cornerstone 64, Prattville Christian 44: Ty Youngblood led all scorers with 22 points while Jonathan McKinney had 12 points and Dustin Shears had nine. The win advanced the Chargers into the finals of the CVA Tournament.

Cornerstone 52, Coosa Valley 30: Cornerstone won their first Christmas tournament as Tournament MVP Ty Youngblood scored 15 points. Cornerstone head coach Tim Smith said Youngblood, who has started on the varsity squad since his seventh-grade year, has been a huge asset to this year’s team.

&uot;(Youngblood’s) not a vocal leader, but he leads by example,&uot; Smith said. The Chargers held Coosa Valley to just two points in the final quarter, outscoring the Rebels 21-2 to close out the game. Jamal Prentice had 13 points in the final game and Jonathan McKinney was named to the All-Tournament team.

&uot;The kids are real excited about going into the holidays with this win under their belts,&uot; Smith said. &uot;It’s put excitement into our program that we’ve never had.&uot;

Cornerstone will take a break for the holidays before returning to action Jan. 7 as the Chargers host East Memorial.

Gardendale Invitational Tournament

Briarwood 55, Pell City 39: Charles Hoke paced the Lions into the second round of the Gardendale tournament with his double-double. Hoke finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks while Nate Carlson had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Briarwood 86, Pinson Valley 65: Four Briarwood players scored in double figures as the Lions advanced to the Gardendale tournament finals. Charles Hoke led the Lions with 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while Blake Edwards also had 15 points. Nate Carlson and Larry Hedden also scored double-doubles as Carlson finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds while Hedden finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Briarwood 43, Gardendale 29: Will Cunningham led the Lions with 10 points and six assists as Briarwood captured the Gardendale Invitational championship. Charles Hoke, who averaged 13 points and nine rebounds per game during the tournament, was named Tournament MVP while Larry Hedden and Cunningham were named to the All-Tournament team.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Calera 58, Shades Mountain 52 (OT): The No. 2 Calera Eagles got one of their toughest tests of the year, but remained unbeaten, as JaLisa Thomas scored 25 points. Shanavia Dowdell also had 17 points in the victory. Calera returns to action Jan. 3 as the Eagles host Parkway Christian.

Thompson 45, Shades Valley 44: The Warriors squeaked out a close one as junior Tamara Williams led all Thompson scorers with 12 points. Britt Self also had 11 points in the win. Thompson will play in the Lauderdale County Tournament Dec. 27-30.

Pinson Valley 46, Oak Mountain 42: The Eagles (7-5) couldn’t catch a break Friday as Pinson Valley was perfect from the free-throw line. Ashley Brown led all Oak Mountain players with 14 points while Anna Cramer had 11 points.

Spain Park 63, Lee 50: Spain Park had four girls score in double digits as the Jags downed the Generals. Sharidan Hollis led all Jaguars with 14 points. Other Spain Park players scoring in double digits were Lauren Dunning with 12 points, Ashley Boler with 11 points and Tiareh Young with 10 points.

Shelby Academy 44, Central Christian 18: Kimbrell Lee paced Shelby Academy with 14 points as three Raiders scored in double digits. Kendra Bristow had 12 points and Brianne Edwards had 10 points in the win.

Fultondale Tournament

Briarwood 53, Pleasant Grove 49: Andee Matthews paced the Lions into the finals of the Fultondale Tournament with her 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Although the Lions were down four at the end of the third quarter, eighth-grader Lauren Parks hit two clutch three-pointers to vault Briarwood to victory. Parks finished with 12 points while Dandi Ammons, Sarah Byers, Whitney Dailey and Haley Craddock all had at least eight rebounds apiece.

Athens 70, Briarwood 56: Andee Matthews had a huge double-double, scoring 27 points while pulling down 11 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Lions fell in the championship game. Briarwood head coach Jim Brown said his team fought hard but Athens pulled away in the fourth quarter. Briarwood is now 8-3 and Brown sees good things ahead for his team that consists of five juniors.

&uot;They’ve really competed well and we’ve got a good nucleus of girls,&uot; Brown said.

Coosa Valley Christmas Tournament

Coosa Valley 47, Chambers Academy 17: Molly Brasher’s double-double proved to be enough as the senior finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Kirby Johnson’s 12 points were enough to put her over the 2,000-point mark for her career and Kimberli Rutledge finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Cornerstone 31, Chambers Academy 21: After falling to Prattville Christian in the first game, Kim Proctor’s Chargers regrouped and downed Chambers for their first victory of the year. Marybeth Willis finished with 20 points for the Chargers.

&uot;(Our girls) are starting to work as a team and are seeing what it means to work as a team, &uot; Proctor said