By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

Jan. 15

Oak Mountain keeps winning

Payton Youngblood and Warren Shader combined for over half of all of Oak Mountain’s scoring as the Eagles moved to 15-7 (3-1) with a clutch 7A Area 5 win over Tuscaloosa County by a final of 50-43. Oak Mountain is now 9-2 in its last 11 games spanning back to a two-point, mid-December loss to Vestavia Hills.

 

Bulldogs pick up fourth-straight win

Montevallo took down Oak Grove on Friday night by a final of 77-64. The win was the fourth in a row for the Bulldogs and advanced the No. 3 team in class 4A to 18-5 on the season.

 

Yellow Jackets hammer Winterboro

EJ Datcher recorded his 10^th double-double of the season when he tallied 17 points and 13 rebounds in the Yellow Jackets game against Winterboro. Vincent jumped out to an 18-2 lead in the opening quarter and never struggled to put away Winterboro by a final of 52-35. Terrell Calhoun also finished with 11 points, and went 3-6 from three.

 

Pelham blows past Briarwood

Pelham’s Alex Reese scored 23 points and grabbed 11 boards as the Panthers beat Briarwood for the second time in three weeks by a final of 67-43 to move to 13-8 (3-1). Pelham is now solidly in second place behind Homewood in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in 6A Area 9. Thomas Collier had 12 points to lead Briarwood.

 

Wildcats struggles continue

Shelby County traveled to Sylacauga on Friday for a 5A Area 8 showdown, but was turned away with a loss by a final score of 57-50 as the struggles for the Wildcats continued in 2016.

 

Hornets fall to 1-2 in area play

Chelsea got beat by Oxford on Jan. 8 by a final score of 55-47. The Hornets then had a week off before playing the Yellow Jackets for a second time, this time on the road, to try and stay above .500 in area play. The week proved to be ineffective however, as Chelsea registered the exact same point total while giving up more, and lost by a final of 63-47, dropping the Hornets to 5-15 (1-2).

 

Lady Jaguars get crucial area win

With a four-point, 60-56 win over Hewitt-Trussville on Friday night, the Spain Park Lady Jaguars advanced to 12-8 (3-1) on the year. Skyla Knight had 15 points in the contest to lead all scorers while Elizabeth Philpot had 13 and Claire Holt finished with 12. Up by nine entering the final period, Spain Park fended off a late run from the Lady Huskies to preserve the victory.

 

Briarwood girls beat Pelham again

For the second time in January, Briarwood and Pelham met on the basketball floor, and for the second time the Lady Lions got out of the gym with a win. Briarwood had a 20-point lead entering the final quarter and then had to withstand a fourth-quarter rally from Pelham to hold on and get a 45-36 win, which moved the Lady Lions to 14-6 (2-2) and dropped Pelham to 5-16 (0-4).

 

Lady Eagles lose heartbreaker

After entering area play with an above-.500 record of 7-6, the Oak Mountain girls’ basketball team has now lost four straight area games to fall to 7-10 (0-4). The latest loss was the toughest, as Oak Mountain lost at Tuscaloosa County by one point, 42-41.