Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – After falling 53-44 to the Alabama Aerospace and Aviation Jets on the road on Jan. 9, the Westminster School at Oak Mountain Knights got revenge on their home floor to keep pace in area play.

Westminster OM defeated Alabama Aerospace and Aviation 70-53 on Friday, Jan. 17 at Berry Middle School to get to 2-2 in area play heading into the final two games of its Class 2A, Area 9 slate.

The Knights offense burst out of the gate in the first quarter, dropping 23 points on the Jets in the first eight minutes of the game. A big part of that was 3-pointers from Davis Franklin, Clayton Conner and Canaan Hill to go with four points apiece from Sam Carter and Sam Lipperd.

That helped Westminster take a 23-13 lead into the second quarter after outpacing Alabama Aerospace and Aviation in the first quarter.

The Jets defense rebounded in the second quarter, limiting the Knights to just nine points across four different players. However, Alabama Aerospace and Aviation couldn’t take advantage and could only match Westminster’s nine-point output.

As a result, the Knights went into halftime the same way they went into the second quarter: up 10, this time with a 32-22 advantage.

Westminster got a chance to respond in the third quarter. Franklin and David Sellers each hit multiple baskets in the third to power the offense. Combined with their trips to the free throw line, Sellers had six points in the quarter and Franklin scored five during that stretch.

The free throw success wasn’t just limited to them as Lipperd hit five of his six free throws in the third and Thomas Bailey converted the back end of his first trip to the line. The Knights as a team went a combined 9-for-12 from the charity stripe in the third to extend their lead to 51-33.

The Jets didn’t go down quietly and scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, but Westminster continued to score on the other end of the floor. Carter and Lipperd led the way from the floor while Conner joined Lipperd in finding success from the foul line.

In the end, the Knights saw out the 17-point win to snap their four-game losing streak.

Lipperd led the way for Westminster with a double-double-earning 16 points and 15 rebounds. Three of his teammates joined him in double figures as Franklin scored 13 points, Carter dropped 12 points and Conner earned 10 points. In addition, Hill and Sellers each finished with eight points apiece.

The 6-12 Knights will finish out area play with back-to-back home games, first against the Holy Family Catholic Tornadoes on Friday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. and then homecoming against the Cornerstone Eagles on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1:45 p.m. at Berry Middle School.