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Oak Mountain's Raegan Whitaker was big down the stretch in the Eagles' 48-41 victory against Wenonah on Wednesday, Nov. 11. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor 

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles made big plays down the stretch to pick up their second win of the season on Wednesday, Nov. 11, with a 48-41 victory against the Wenonah Dragons at home.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 2-1 on the season and showcased strong play in the paint as well as a keen eye for the ball defensively to pull out the win.

The defense played consistently throughout, but it took the offense some time to heat up, and it showed in the first quarter.

The Eagles made their lone free throw and knocked down four baskets from four different scorers, but the slower pace kept them from getting a ton of chances.

Putting up just nine points, they trailed 10-9 at the end of the quarter as Wenonah knocked down four field goals as well, but also went 2-4 from the free throw line.

Oak Mountain bounced back in the second quarter thanks to a 4-4 mark at the free throw line from Raegan Whitaker, a 3-pointer from Abby Gordon and five points from Charity Shaw, which kicked off a strong night for her.

Those three led to 12 points for the Eagles, while the defense again held the Dragons to just 10 points, which became a theme in the first three quarters.

With the strong second-quarter effort, Oak Mountain had come back to take a 21-20 lead into the halftime break, and from that point, the Eagles never trailed again.

Wenonah, however, made it tight a few different times in the second half.

Oak Mountain started the half strong and extended its lead to 10 points with a 9-0 run out of the locker room thanks to physical play in the paint. The Eagles got defensive boards on one end and second looks on the other end.

But the Dragons fought back down the stretch of the third quarter and cut the deficit down to four points at 34-30 heading to the final period.

Oak Mountain quickly took the lead back to 37-30 early in the quarter, but Wenonah clawed back again after the Eagles started struggling at the free throw line.

The Dragons eventually cut the deficit back down to 41-40 after Oak Mountain either missed both free throws at the line or knocked down just one of two on several trips in a row.

But after Wenonah trimmed the deficit to 41-40 on a 3-pointer, Oak Mountain was able to pull away down the stretch thanks to Whitaker making a layup and four consecutive free throws in the final 1:30 of the game for the 48-41 win.

Whitaker led the Eagles with 14 points, while Shaw and Gordon finished in double digits with 12 and 10, respectively.

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