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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – It took a late defensive effort to get there, but the Oak Mountain Eagles are now 1-0 in Class 7A, Area 6 after a win over one of the best teams in the region in the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies.

Oak Mountain defeated Hewitt-Trussville 58-49 on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at Oak Mountain High School to claim a win in the opening game of area play for the Eagles.

Both teams came flying out of the gate on offense and combined for 71 points in the first half. Oak Mountain got the early jump on Hewitt in the first quarter, mostly because Will Patterson was lights out from the field.

Patterson was 4-for-4 on field goals in the opening period, including two 3-pointers. Four other Eagles contributed baskets to give their team a 20-16 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Huskies flipped the momentum in another tight and high-scoring second quarter. They hit a trio of 3-pointers as a team while taking advantage of their chances at the free throw line as four of their players combined to go 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Patterson was scoreless from the field in the second quarter and could only muster two free throws during that span, but Patton Knight helped pick up the slack with eight points, including two 3-pointers.

Gray Plaia and Blake Benson also hit shots to help limit the damage, but Hewitt-Trussville grabbed the lead and took a 36-35 advantage into the halftime locker room.

After the break, Oak Mountain passed the scoring baton to Chase Lamey and Chris Kunard, who each made multiple baskets and combined for 10 of their team’s 11 third-quarter points.

However, the Eagles couldn’t take hold of the lead partly thanks to their struggles from deep. The team went a combined 1-for-6 from behind the arc in the third quarter.

The best Oak Mountain could do was match Hewitt, which also scored 11 points in the third, leaving the hosts down 47-46 going into the fourth quarter.

The Eagles needed a big response to overcome the one-point deficit and take hold of the lead for good, and they got exactly that on the defensive end.

Oak Mountain held the Huskies to just two points in the fourth quarter off just 1-for-4 shooting as the Eagles limited Hewitt’s chances from the field.

From there, Plaia took over, hitting three field goals and scoring eight points in the fourth. Lamey and Will O’Dell also hit shots inside the arc to lift Oak Mountain to a nine-point win.

Patterson led the Eagles with 13 points, all of which came in the first half. In all, four Oak Mountain players finished in double figures, including Plaia with 12 points, Knight with 11 points and Lamey with 10 points. Kunard also finished with six points in the win.

Next up for the 19-3 Eagles is their toughest test of the season, a road trip to MaxPreps’ No. 8 team in the country, the undefeated Hoover Buccaneers. That game was previously set for Friday, Jan. 10 but was rescheduled to Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. at Hoover High School.