By GRAHAM CARR / Special to the Reporter

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Lady Eagles beat the Chelsea Lady Hornets, 45-29, in the second round of the Shelby County basketball tournament at Oak Mountain on Dec. 20.

“We played alright,” Lady Eagles coach George Minoso said. “We have some things we need to work on. Defensively we had some break downs. We are young, so we have a long way to go.”

Oak Mountain capitalized on a slow start by Chelsea to take a 16-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Chelsea’s offense was better in the second quarter and outscored Oak Mountain 10-5. Nevertheless, the Lady Hornets still trailed 21-14 at the break.

Oak Mountain’s defense shut down the Lady Hornet’s attack in the second half, as the Lady Hornets went a quarter and a half without scoring a field goal. The Lady Hornets’ only scored two points in the third quarter, allowing the Lady Eagles to stretch their lead to 38-16.

Chelsea outscored the Oak Mountain in the fourth quarter 13-7, but the deficit was too large to overcome.

Chelsea’s slow starts to both halves cost the Hornets the game. In the first and third quarters, Oak Mountain outscored Chelsea 33-6, but in the second and fourth quarters, Chelsea outscored Oak Mountain 23-12.

Oak Mountain was led by Katelyn West with 10 points while Mackenzie Garmany, Bailey Upchurch and Christine Mcgowan added eight points apiece for the Eagles.

Minoso was impressed by Chelsea’s Amanda Mock who led the Hornets in scoring with 12 points.

“She made our post readjust our shots and we had a tough time putting it in unless it was in transition,” Minoso said.