By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

HANCEVILLE – Two days after Oak Mountain supplied the late-game heroics in a tight win over Grissom, it was the Eagles who found themselves on the wrong side of a heroic shot in the 7A Northwestern regional final against Hoover, as the Bucs’ Wes Banks hit a three as time expired in the fourth quarter to give Hoover a 42-39 win.

“It was a physical game, our kids responded well to it in the second half,” Oak Mountain head coach Chris Love said after the game. “It’s just tough, it’s tough for these kids.”

From the jump, the game was tight, as neither team truly found much of an offensive rhythm all day. Hoover took a 10-5 lead into the second quarter on six straight points late in the first as both teams settled into the flow of the game.

Threes from Payton Youngblood and Yeadon Patrick highlighted the second quarter for Oak Mountain, but the Eagles relied on a strong defensive rebounding effort and veteran defense to keep the game close in the second, and went into the half trailing 17-13.

This was the fourth time Oak Mountain and Hoover had met, as both play in 7A Region 5. Oak Mountain held a 2-1 advantage in the series this year, and beat the Bucs in the 7A Region 5 title game. All the games had been close, and this one was destined to be no different.

“They probably could run our stuff better than we could and we could probably run their stuff better than they could,” Love said after the game. “We’re two evenly matched teams.”

The Eagles took the lead back with no time on the clock in the third, as Will Stephenson drew a block as time expired in the quarter before calmly sinking two free throws to take a 27-26 lead heading into the fourth.

Down 36-39 with time dwindling down, it was once again Wyatt Armstrong who appeared to come to the rescue for Oak Mountain. The athletic swingman hit a monster shot in the regional semifinals against Grissom to put the Eagles up for good in that game, and hit another huge shot here to tie the game at 39 with under a minute to go.

But the defending 7A state champs had one last trick up their sleeves. With time winding down, the Bucs swung the ball around the perimeter, finding Banks, who delivered the dagger, sending Oak Mountain home via a 42-39 final.

While Oak Mountain’s record last year was less than stellar, it was not indicative of the talent on that team or this one, and had no bearing on this season’s expectations, as Love made clear after the game.

“We expected to be here,” Love said. “We expected to win the game today. That’s no disrespect to anybody in 7A. We thought we could win this game and go to the BJCC.”

Youngblood had 13 points and six rebounds to go along with four blocks to lead Oak Mountain, while Armstrong had 10 points as well. Oak Mountain finished the season with a 25-8 record.