Oak Mountain pulls away for victory to open tourney
Published 9:11 am Thursday, December 20, 2018
Zane Nelson led Oak Mountain to a win against Leeds in the first round of its own holiday invitational. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)
By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor
NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles closed out the first day of their holiday invitational on Wednesday, Dec. 19, with a strong victory against the Leeds Greenwave by a final score of 67-36 thanks to 10 3-pointers.
With the win, Oak Mountain improved to 10-4 this season and are rolling once again with three consecutive victories to become one of the county’s first teams to 10 wins this season.
Despite the overwhelming win, as has become normal at times this season for Oak Mountain, the Eagles got off to a slow start in the first quarter with their first basket coming 2:30 into the game to take an early 2-0 lead.
They eventually fell behind 4-2 after a 4-0 run from the Greenwave gave them the lead while Oak Mountain was struggling to score with just two points through the first four minutes of the game.
But then Zane Nelson hit a 3-pointer to get the cap off the basket and give the Eagles the lead at 5-4. Leedw hit one more basket before the Eagles hit two more 3-pointers for back-to-back-to-back made shots from beyond the arc.
That was part of an 8-0 run before it eventually became an 11-2 run with another 3-pointer. Leeds answered with a much-needed three at the end of the quarter to pull within five at 16-11 heading to the second.
Oak Mountain was able to continue the momentum swing over into the second period with its second 11-2 run of the last few minutes of game time which put the Eagles on top 27-13.
The Greenwave added just one more basket in the quarter as Oak Mountain only allowed them to score four total points in the period giving the Eagles a 27-15 lead at the break.
For much of the third quarter, Oak Mountain’s defense continued with that strong presence and looked like it may hold Leeds to just two points in the frame before the Greenwave posted a few points late.
That along with the help of five 3-pointers eventually extended the Eagles’ lead to 52-24 at the end of the period giving Oak Mountain a 25-9 run in the quarter.
With most of the bench playing in the final period, Oak Mountain was able to maintain around a 30-point lead with the Greenwave getting no closer than 25 points the rest of the way leading to the 67-36 win.
The Eagles were led by 15 points from Nelson and 14 points from Dunn, while nine different players scored in all.
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