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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Westminster School at Oak Mountain Knights are rolling into the postseason after securing two dominant area wins in less than 24 hours.

Westminster OM defeated the Holy Family Catholic Tornadoes 79-32 on Friday, Jan. 24 before rolling to a 73-43 win over the Cornerstone Eagles on Saturday, Jan. 25 in their annual homecoming game at Berry Middle School.

In the first game of the weekend against Holy Family, the Knights offense got plenty of baskets from multiple key contributors. Canaan Hill, David Sellers and Thomas Fleming each scored multiple times from the field in the first quarter as Westminster grabbed control of the game.

The Knights quickly earned a double-digit lead and took a 19-7 lead into the second quarter.

That lead only grew from there as Thomas Bailey joined the scoring party with his first six points of the night. Davis Franklin had seven points in the second while he combined with his teammates to go 7-for-12 from the free throw line.

Westminster continued to click on both ends of the floor and increased its lead to 40-14 going into halftime.

The Knights defense continued to provide unrelenting pressure and surrendered just three points in the third quarter.

Westminster’s offense took advantage and had its best quarter of the game in the third. Currin Carter dropped seven points in the third for his first points of the evening while Sam Lipperd scored four points from the field.

Seven different Knights combined for 23 points to grow the lead to 63-17 ahead of the fourth quarter.

Westminster then passed the scoring baton to Drake Oliver and Deacon Brown, who each scored five points in the fourth quarter to help finish off the 47-point victory.

Hill and Brown each tied for the team high with 11 points apiece. Fleming scored nine points, Bailey had eight points, Franklin, Currin Carter and Oliver each finished with seven points and Sam Carter and Lipperd both had five points each. Sellers also earned four points.

The next day, the Knights took the floor for the final time in area play for their rescheduled homecoming game as they took on Cornerstone Schools in a game which was originally set for Saturday, Jan. 11 but needed to be postponed due to snow.

Westminster charged out of the gate with 23 points in the first quarter, including nine from Lipperd thanks to his three field goals and three free throws. Franklin, Hill and Sellers each added a 3-pointer as the Knights stormed out to a 23-9 lead by the end of the first.

Fleming kept the points coming for Westminster, scoring eight in the second to get himself into double figures after scoring two points in the first quarter. He had nearly half of his team’s 17 second-quarter points as the Knights continued to press the advantage.

Westminster held Cornerstone under 20 points for the first half and went into the break with a 40-19 lead.

Just like on Friday, the Knights put their best foot forward in the third quarter. Clayton Conner and Sellers each had six points apiece while Bailey scored his first five points of the game. It was all part of a 25-point quarter for Westminster.

That allowed the Knights to build onto their already commanding lead, taking it to 65-31 ahead of the fourth quarter.

Westminster cruised from there as Sellers added on four more points to his game-high 15 points and the Knights finished out area play with a 30-point win, earning revenge for a tight road loss to the Eagles earlier in the year.

In addition to Sellers’ 15 points, Lipperd scored 13 points, Conner had 11 points and Hill and Fleming made it five Westminster players in double figures with their 10-point afternoons. Franklin scored eight points and Bailey had five points in the win.

The Knights improved to 8-12 on the season and 4-2 in area play with the win. They will await Monday, Jan. 27’s game between Alabama Aerospace and Aviation and Holy Family Catholic to determine who will host the area tournament.

For now though, Westminster will travel to Montevallo to face the Bulldogs on Monday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m.