Oak Mountain cruises to opening night win over Calera

Published 9:12 am Friday, November 8, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles used a quick offensive start to pace a victorious opening night as they claimed an 82-37 win over the Calera Eagles on Thursday, Nov. 7 at Oak Mountain High School.

Chris Kunard led the way for Oak Mountain early on with nine points off four field goals in the opening quarter. In all, eight Oak Mountain players chipped in points during a 22-yard first quarter.

Calera also put forth a balanced offensive effort with points from four different players, but the Oak Mountain defense kept the visitors quiet to lead 22-7 after the first quarter.

The points kept coming for Oak Mountain in the second quarter thanks to seven-point quarters from both Patton Knight and Will Patterson. Kunard also added five points as the hosts topped their first-quarter output with 29 points in the second.

That helped Oak Mountain outpace Calera’s eight points in the second and widen the gap to 51-15 at the halftime break.

Calera’s offense flipped a switch coming out of the locker room. Darian Hamilton and Carlos Wisenhunt combined for 13 of their team’s 17 third-quarter points, which more than doubled their total points to that point.

However, Chase Lamey and Kunard led the way from the field while Oak Mountain went 8-of-9 from the free throw line to win the quarter and extend the lead to 74-32 at the end of the third quarter.

From there, the scoring pace slowed down as Oak Mountain outscored Calera 8-5 in the fourth to seal the 82-37 victory.

For Oak Mountain, Kunard led the way with 20 points, Knight had 14 points and Patterson also got into double figures with 12 points.

Elsewhere, Lamey scored eight points, Jake Hartsfield had six points, Xander Hughes and Rocco Plaia each had five points and Kasen Lemons, Will Burgess and Will O’Dell had four points apiece as each Oak Mountain player who entered the game scored at least four points.

As for Calera, Wisenhunt and Garrett Mahone tied for a team-high seven points. Hamilton scored six points and Israel Robinson earned four points.

Oak Mountain will be in action on Veterans Day as it faces Albertville on Monday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at Wallace State Community College’s Tom Drake Coliseum.

Calera will have a quick turnaround when it returns home to host Murphy for its home opener on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

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