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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Oak Mountain High School students got a chance to check out the talk of the town as the undefeated Oak Mountain Eagles kept their strong start to the season going.

The Eagles improved to 10-0 on the season thanks to a 73-68 win over the Homewood Patriots during an in-school game at Oak Mountain High School.

Continuing to navigate life without Chris Kunard, Oak Mountain faced a tight matchup from the early moments with the offense unable to find its second gear early.

That left the teams tied up at 10-10 with the game hanging in the balance for whoever wanted to take it.

That team proved to be the Eagles.

Oak Mountain scored 21 points in the second quarter powered by multiple baskets from the field from Chase Lamey, Will Patterson and Jake Hartsfield.

Homewood was unable to keep up despite scoring 12 points in the second quarter, and that left the Eagles up 31-22 going into the halftime break.

After watching Oak Mountain go on a big offensive run in the second, the Patriots responded with a strong quarter of their own underneath their own basket.

Drew Susce led Homewood’s offense to outscore the Eagles 25-17 in the third quarter, dialing up the pressure on Oak Mountain as its lead began to shrink.

The Eagles remained in front at the end of the third quarter thanks to a massive quarter from Rocco Plaia, who scored 10 points in the third after scoring just two in the first two quarters, but they led only by the slimmest of margins, 48-47, with just eight minutes left in the game.

Both teams brought their best shots of the afternoon to the fourth quarter as Oak Mountain and the Patriots combined for 46 points in a fast-paced final period.

Lamey hit a pair of baskets and Rocco Plaia and Blake Benson each knocked down a 3-pointer to help the Eagles keep up with Homewood, but with the score close and time winding down, it came down to free throws to decide if Oak Mountain would stay in front.

The Eagles went 14-for-19 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to keep the Patriots at bay and secure the five-point victory to remain undefeated.

Lamey led Oak Mountain with 21 points and Plaia also hit the 20-point threshold as he scored 20 in the win. Patterson dropped 11 points, Hartsfield had seven points and Benson and Will O’Dell each scored five points on the afternoon.

The Eagles will look to improve to 11-0 on the season and 2-0 against the Chelsea Hornets when the two rivals square off on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. at Oak Mountain High School in Oak Mountain’s next game.