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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

TUSCALOOSA – The Oak Mountain Eagles started out the Jaguar Thanksgiving Jam at Northridge High School with their eighth-straight loss to start the season, but they ended it by starting a new, more positive streak.

Oak Mountain won its final two games of the tournament by defeating the Demopolis Tigers 54-22 on Tuesday, Nov. 26 and the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats 46-28 on Wednesday, Nov. 27 to finish in fifth place.

The wins also were extra special for head coach Aimee Harris as they were the first two wins of her OMHS coaching career.

After falling 50-43 to eventual tournament runners-up Benjamin Russell to start the week, the Eagles took on Demopolis in hopes of turning their fortunes around.

Oak Mountain got off to a strong start in the game as Lucy McKeown and Caroline Kester each scored five points in the opening quarter, helping the Eagles take a 16-6 lead at the end of the first.

Kester continued to pace the Eagles offense in the second quarter as Zy Walker joined her in scoring four points during the second.

Oak Mountain continued to limit the Tigers’ scoring in the first half and went on to lead 29-14 at halftime.

The dominance only continued after the break as Demopolis scored just four points in the third quarter while Kester caught fire at the other end of the floor. Kester knocked down a trio of 3-pointers to score 13 points in the third alone

That took the lead to a dominant 44-18 scoreline, and the Eagles cruised from there to earn their first win of the season by a score of 54-22.

Kester outscored the Tigers by herself with 25 points, including four 3-pointers. McKeown scored 10 points, Walker earned six points and Nylah Cook added five points.

Oak Mountain took its fresh positive momentum into its fifth-place game against Tuscaloosa County on Wednesday to close the tournament.

Kester continued to lead the way for the Eagles offense, scoring five points in the first quarter despite missing multiple shots. Paired with baskets from four of her teammates, Oak Mountain took a 14-6 lead into the second quarter.

The Eagles continued to do damage from deep thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Kester and another from Marly Brown. Those shots helped Oak Mountain outpace the Wildcats in the second quarter and extend their halftime lead to 25-13.

Tuscaloosa County’s offense rebounded in the third quarter and scored 10 points during that eight-minute stretch. However, Kester once again helped the Eagles respond. She scored eight of her team’s 11 third-quarter points to increase the lead to 36-23 at the end of the quarter.

Oak Mountain saw through the victory with a balanced scoring effort in the fourth quarter, with four points from Cook leading four different scorers for the Eagles.

That put the finishing touches on a 46-28 win, their second-straight victory after losing eight straight to start the season.

Kester scored a team-high 16 points while Cook had 10 points. Sophie Hammett scored five points and McKeown earned four points in the win.

Oak Mountain will look to extend its win streak to three in a row when it hosts the Homewood Patriots on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m.