Eagles silence Jaguars roar
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 17, 2007
For 13 weeks, Michael Nordyke looked forward revenge for pay back of Spain Park&8217;s 31-27 football upset over Oak Mountain.
He got it Friday night with the game-winning shot for Oak Mountain&8217;s 45-43 overtime upset over the sixth-ranked Jaguars.
With Spain Park controlling the clock and hoping for one final attempt at breaking a 43-43 tie for the win, Nordyke executed Coach Jerry North&8217;s call for a half court trap by closing Josh Maggett&8217;s passing lane and picked off a pass.
After an OMHS time out, Nordyke hit a leaning jumper from the free throw line to win the game with 1.6 seconds on the clock.
&8220;I like to beat Spain Park so much in everything. This is revenge for football,&8221; Nordyke said.
The game-winner was not the only big shot of his 11 points on the night. He capped a fourth quarter come back for the Eagles by draining a 3-point shot from the right corner with 17 seconds to play in regulation to tie the game 40-40. Spain Park&8217;s William Green missed a lay-up at the buzzer to send the game to overtime, despite finishing with nine points.
Nordyke&8217;s first three points of the game came on an and-one play with 1:03 to play in the first quarter gave the Eagles a 5-2 lead and snapped a seven-minute field goal draught in a defensive battle that saw no score through the first 3:30 of play.
The Jags took a small 14-12 lead late in the second quarter, but back-to-back 3-point baskets by Ronnie Mack and Wes Sanez helped the Eagles take an 18-17 halftime lead. Sanez also finished with 11 points.
Moments after Jay Prayter hit a 3-pointer to give the Jaguars their first lead of the second half, 25-22, Maggett drained a pair of 3-pointers to give his team a 30-24 lead over the Eagles.
The Jaguars missed opportunites to seal the game, going 6-of-21 from the line.
&8220;They&8217;re extremely good shooters. I guess it was just one of those nights,&8221; North said.
Camaron Terry led the Jags with 10 points.
The Eagles moved to 11-7, 2-0 in Class 6A, Area 11 play after a 43-35 win over Vestavia Hills on Tuesday.
Spain Park fell to 17-4, 1-1 in the area, including a 61-52 victory over Hoover