Calera comes back from halftime deficit to defeat Oak Mountain on road

Published 2:12 pm Friday, November 8, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – While the Calera Eagles trailed the Oak Mountain Eagles by six points going into the halftime break, they refused to give in and walked away with a tight victory.

Calera took down Class 7A Oak Mountain 55-50 on Thursday, Nov. 7 at Oak Mountain High School in the season opener for both teams.

The two offenses came out of the gate strong, combining for 34 points in a tightly-fought first quarter.

While JaKalyn Jones, Maddie Green and Kora Johnson each had multiple baskets in the opening quarter for Calera, Caroline Kester powered Oak Mountain with 10 of her team’s 18 points in the quarter to give her team an 18-16 lead after eight minutes of play.

Kester continued to lead the Oak Mountain offense with six points in the second quarter. While Calera made just two field goals during the quarter, Mia Wade’s 4-of-4 performance from the free throw line during the second helped her team keep pace.

Oak Mountain outscored Calera 12-8 in the second quarter and grew its halftime lead to 30-24.

The third quarter proved to be the lowest-scoring of all as the teams combined for 19 points with the game hanging in the balance.

A pair of 3-pointers from Emily Kayton during the third helped push Calera within one possession of the lead as Oak Mountain led 38-35 at the end of the third quarter.

However, everything changed in the fourth quarter when Jones took over.

Jones scored five times from the field and had 14 points in the fourth quarter alone after scoring just six points prior to that.

Combined with four points from Rekenzie Smith, Calera outscored Oak Mountain 20-12 in the fourth quarter. That pushed the visitors over the top, and Calera held on for a five-point win.

Jones ended the game with 20 points to lead Calera’s offense. Smith, Kayton and Johnson each scored seven points, Wade recorded six points and Green added five points.

Kester led Oak Mountain with a game-high 25 points, including 16 in the first half. Elizabeth Butler also got into double figures with 10 points, and Addison Green scored seven points.

Calera will turn around and host its home opener with less than 24 hours of rest as it hosts Murphy on Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. at Calera High School.

Oak Mountain will also be in action on Friday, Nov. 8 when it travels to face the McAdory Yellow Jackets for a 2:45 p.m. tipoff.

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