By DREW GRANTHUM/Sports Writer

HOMEWOOD — The Westminster-Oak Mountain boys basketball team celebrated homecoming in style, dominating the Whitesburg Christian Academy Warriors 59-26.

For a time, it appeared the Knights had a game on their hands, as the two squads opened up in a 4-4 deadlock, but a bucket by Jonathan Stanford and a 3-pointer and basket by Luke Toluiatos gave the nights a 9-6 lead. The Knights then began to pull away, first on a 3-pointer by Gabe Toluiatos, then a subsequent basket and free throw by brother Luke. Two more buckets by the Knights gave them a 19-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

John Fitzgerald kicked off the second quarter with a big 3-pointer, and Luke Touliatos followed suit to give the Knights a 27-14 lead. Jack stein sank two 3-pointers of his own to increase the lead to 19 midway through the second quarter. A  Jospeh Ankenbrandt basket followed, and the Knights then closed the half on a with a Gabe Touliatos free throw to take a 36-17 lead headed into the half.

Ankenbrandt started the second half with a 3-pointer, boosting the lead to 22. Luke Touliatos sank another three to give the Knights a 41-21 lead. A 14-3 run ensued, as Ben Moore, Keller Doggett, Stein and Fitzgerald all scored to give the Knights a 54-24 lead after three quarters of play.

The Knights then put in younger players to give them experience, and closed the game with a 5-2 run to take the 59-26 homecoming win.
Head coach Daryle Butler had praise for his team — and its fans.

“(This) was just a good community event,” he said. “It was just a good time for our young men to come out and shoot. We got to play some younger players. We shoot the outside shot well, and tonight it happened to be falling.”

Luke Touliatos finished with 14 points, Stein had nine and Fitzgerald had seven in the win. The Knights move on to face Indian Springs Jan. 31.