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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles gave the Spain Park Jaguars all they could handle, but the Jags persisted through a late Eagles rally to claim the victory.

Spain Park defeated Oak Mountain 49-43 on Thursday, Nov. 21 at Oak Mountain High School to earn a crucial early-season victory.

Spain Park’s offense got off to a strong start with four first-quarter 3-pointers, including a pair from eighth-grader Ava Leonard.

That plus a solid defensive effort gave the Jags a 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter of play.

That offensive momentum didn’t carry into the second quarter as Spain Park only mustered 10 more points before the break.

However, the Jags defense continued to do enough to keep the Eagles in check, allowing seven points in the second to make the halftime score 29-16 in favor of Spain Park.

Oak Mountain started clawing its way back in the third with an improved offensive effort. The Eagles outscored the Jags 16-12 in the third quarter behind six points in the third from Joy Damron and a 7-for-11 performance from the free throw line as a team.

That cut the deficit to nine with the score at 41-32 going into the fourth quarter, and Oak Mountain kept going and made it a four-point game to threaten for the win.

Despite a strong performance from the free throw line, the Eagles went just 2-for-9 from the field in the fourth quarter, and Spain Park held on for the six-point win.

Leonard led the Jags with 20 points, Jordyn Corey scored nine points and Nylah Calhoun had four points.

For Oak Mountain, Caroline Kester scored a team-high 16 points, Damron had eight points, Marley Brown earned six points and Zy Walker and Addison Green each scored four points.