By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – It’s been a strong start for the Oak Mountain Lady Eagles, but something has seemed to have been missing through their first 10 games of the season—offensive balance.

On Tuesday, Dec. 12, in front of their home crowd against Pelham, the Eagles’ showed possibly their best offensive performance of the season, not because of the amount of points scored, but the balance by which they got points in their 49-29 win.

Oak Mountain (8-3) got at least one point from 10 different players en route to its 20-point win over the Panthers (3-8).

The Eagles started strong on both ends of the floor in the opening period of the game scoring 10 points from four different players and limiting Pelham to just two made field goals and four points.

That carried over into the second quarter as the balance started to show off. Led by Hannah Edwards with seven points, five total Oak Mountain players scored in the quarter.

The defense did its job again and held the Panthers to just four more points, as the Eagles had taken a 20-point 28-8 lead into the half.

A lot of the second half for Oak Mountain was spent at the free throw line. In the third quarter, the Eagles shot just 3-7 from the line, but managed 10 more points in the quarter, while holding Pelham to less than 10 for the third consecutive period with six points.

In the final quarter of play, Pelham finally started having some success on the offensive end, scoring 15 points in the period. Oak Mountain continued to shoot free throws as the Panthers were trying to make them win the game at the line.

The Eagles shot 14 more free throws in the quarter and made just 7 of them for a 50-percent mark, but still scored 11 points, which was plenty of points to hang on for the 49-29 win.

As has been the case for much of the year, Kailey Rory led the Eagles as the only double-figure scorer with 13 points in the game. She had at least two points in every quarter to pace her team.

Edwards also had a solid night with nine points, posting them all in the second and third quarters. Cassady Greenwood and Kennedy Smith each added seven points apiece.

Pelham was led by Jamila Wilson with 10 points, while Hannah Pritchett added six.