By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY – With a chance to tie and send the game to overtime trailing by two with 1.8 seconds left, Oak Mountain toed the foul line for a one-and-one opportunity but the first free throw hit the back iron and Helena came away with its biggest win of the season in a 50-48 upset on the road against the Eagles on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

It was a solid early season win for first year head coach Billy Grant who was proud of his team for overcoming some late game miscues in the win.

“Right there at the end we didn’t handle it very well but we’ve got a lot of guys with inexperience that try hard and play hard,” Grant said. “We just have to take care of the ball a little bit better but this is a big win for us. We’ve been on the road so long and haven’t been home for a while. We were just trying to hang in there and make a statement and win a big game against a good team on the road.”

The crucial turnovers for Helena came with about two minutes left in the game with the Huskies up 50-46.

Helena lost the ball on the inbounds play and followed it with a foul that led to Oak Mountain’s Evan Smith making two free throws with 1:24 to go that cut the Huskies lead to 50-48.

Following that, Oak Mountain forced a jump ball to regain possession but Helena’s defense stood tall. The Huskies also forced a jump ball with 18.6 seconds to go to regain possession that would essentially force Oak Mountain to foul.

However, Helena turned the ball over on the inbounds pass to open the door for a last second opportunity for Oak Mountain. Fortunately for Helena, a potential game winning three spun out and the missed free throw with one second left by the Eagles gave Helena the upset win.

Helena’s top scorer Caden Pierce was held to just eight points on the night as Oak Mountain did a solid job eliminating his scoring opportunities.

Helena’s Daunte Cave led all scorers with 16 points and Nate Andrews finished in double figures with 12 points.

Helena struggled offensively making just two 3-pointers on the night with none coming in the second half which led to the Huskies surrendering a 32-24 halftime lead.

Oak Mountain fought back to outscore Helena 17-6 in the third quarter to take a 41-38 lead heading to the final period but the Huskies stood tall through adversity.

“We told the guys that we just have to play a little bit better offensively,” Grant said. “We were guarding them pretty well but just offensively we were taking bad shots and not finishing around the basket.”

Helena’s Jonah Hyde had four big points in the final period and the Huskies held Oak Mountain to just seven fourth quarter points in the win.

For Oak Mountain, Turner Youngblood led the Eagles with 11 points in the loss. All of his points came in the second half.