By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Less than a week after the Oak Mountain football team played its last down in 2015, the basketball team was taking the floor for its first game of the season against the Rebels from Vestavia Hills. Oak Mountain picked up its first win of the season by a final score of 43-41.

The Eagles roared out to an early lead, holding Vestavia to just two points in the first quarter, and took a 25-13 lead into the half. After playing a dead even third quarter, Oak Mountain led 33-21 headed into the fourth. Halfway through the fourth quarter the Rebels got hot and started sinking threes to tighten the gap, and hit a meaningless two-point shot at the buzzer to bring the game to its’ 43-41 final.

“For three and a half quarters I thought we played really well, especially for an opening game,” Oak Mountain head coach Chris Love said. “Vestavia is a tough, hard-nosed bunch. They’re well coached and tough to play against. But I thought we did a good job for three and a half quarters. It was a good opener for us.”

Will Stephenson and Wyatt Armstrong both scored 10 points on the day to lead Oak Mountain, and Stephenson also posted four assists while Armstrong contributed six rebounds as well. Will Macoy led the way for Vestavia with 10 points as well.

The Eagles have only recently acquired their full rosters, as the final four members of the team came over from football this week. The transition has been smooth, according to Love.

“They’ve gotten back into the swing of things a little quicker than I thought they would,” Love said. “We’re just tying to keep it simple.”

Oak Mountain will host Homewood on Friday.