By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

ALABASTER – The Thompson Warriors played host to the Oak Mountain Eagles on Friday, Jan. 8 during a 7A Area 5 matchup. The Oak Mountain boys continued their strong start to area play while the Thompson girls were able to get back on track in the area after a close loss to Hoover on Jan. 5.

After a low-scoring, tight first quarter, the Lady Warriors were knotted up with the Lady Eagles at 6-6. The second quarter was when Thompson asserted its dominance, however, as the Lady Warriors went on a 21-1 run that encompassed the entire second period to take a 27-7 lead into the half. Oak Mountain had no chance to recover after being blitzed in the second quarter, and Thompson won the matchup 41-23 to improve to 16-3 (1-1) while Oak Mountain fell to 0-2 in area play.

Kahyanne Bolton led Thompson with 11 points while Azariah Jackson and Brittany Grice each chipped in nine. Grice also finished with eight rebounds. Oak Mountain’s Kennedy Smith led all scorers with 12.

The second game of the evening did not end up being as close as many hoped. After squeaking past Tuscaloosa County in its area opener, Oak Mountain brought a 13-6 (1-0) record into its Friday night matchup at Thompson. The Warriors were coming off a 61-56 loss at the hands of defending 7A state champion and area opponent Hoover, and hoped to bounce back and get to .500 in area play. However, the rich got richer on this evening, as Oak Mountain won convincingly on the road by a final of 51-34, marking the second time this season the Eagles have handled the Warriors.

Payton Youngblood led Oak Mountain with 19 points and eight boards while Gabe Haynes added 12, which all came in the third quarter, to help Oak Mountain move to 14-6 (2-0). Michael Freeman, who finished with 12 points, led Thompson as the Warriors fell to 11-9 (0-2).