By NEAL EMBRY/For the Reporter 

COLUMBIANA- After a tight first few minutes at Shelby County High School, the Wildcats quickly put the visiting Calera Eagles away en route to a 78-49 win on Jan. 27.

The sixth-ranked Wildcats quickly built a 10-3 lead in the first quarter, but the Eagles fought back to cut the lead to one just a little over halfway through the first quarter.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, that’s as close as they would come for the rest of the game. For the rest of the first half, Shelby County outscored Calera 30-13, taking a 42-24 lead into halftime.

Justus Martin led all scorers at the break with 14 points and five steals. Martin finished the game with 17 points and six steals.

The second half saw more of the same, with the Eagles struggling to break through a suffocating Wildcat defense. While Calera was able to play good defense, and had help on the boards from some of their subs, the Eagles were never able to get anything going on offense.

Brandon Green had 22 points, seven rebounds, and four steals for the Wildcats. Quinterious Montgomery added 16 points and six rebounds, and Nick Youngblood scored 14.

Deante King led Calera with 14 points.