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Oak Mountain was able to bounce back from its first loss of the season with a dominant road win against Chelsea on Tuesday, Nov. 27. (Reporter photo/Keith McCoy)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – The first two quarters of the Oak Mountain’s trip to Chelsea High School on Tuesday, Nov. 27, for a rivalry road contest between county foes told the story.

The Eagles scored a combined 38 points in those two periods, while limiting Chelsea to just 16, including three in the opening quarter, which led to a strong 66-42 win for Oak Mountain a night after its first loss of the season against Mortimer Jordan.

Oak Mountain (6-1) looked like a team out to prove it was better than the performance put forth the night before and started fast in the opening quarter.

The Eagles limited Chelsea to just one made field goal and three points in the period, while they hit seven field goals and got at least five points from three different players to take a dominant 17-3 lead at the end of the frame.

While Chelsea started figuring out a way to score some points against Oak Mountain in the second quarter, the depth of the Eagles continued to show off.

The Hornets were able to post were able to post their second highest quarter total of the game with 13 points thanks in large part to Robert Marquet’s seven points, but the Eagles had a big answer on the offensive end as well.

Early in the season Oak Mountain has proven to be one of the best free throw shooting teams in the state, while also proving to have some of the most depth, and both showed off in the second period.

The Eagles went 7-7 at the line in the quarter, while four different players scored at last four points in the frame and five different players scored overall.

It led to a 21-point quarter for the Eagles, who took a 38-16 lead into the half thanks to points from six of their 12 players.

Not much changed in the second half, as Oak Mountain’s offense continued to be too much in the third quarter. The Eagles picked up 18 more points in the period thanks to four 3-pointers, two each from Noah Young and Drew Dunn.

Chelsea got two 3-pointers from KJ Hall in the frame, but went 4-8 from the free throw line and was limited to 12 points as the Eagles extended the lead to 56-28 heading to the fourth.

The Hornets had their best quarter of the game in the final period with 15 points thanks to a strong finish from Daniel Washington, but it was too little too late, as Oak Mountain’s built up lead led to the 66-42 victory.

Young led the Eagles with a game-high 15 points, thanks to a 3-4 mark at the free throw line and two 3-pointers. Dunn was just behind him with 14 points after knocking down four 3-pointers.

Will Shaver, a young post presence for Oak Mountain, added a third double-figure scorer with 11 points. As a team, the Eagles finished 9-11 from the free throw line.

Chelsea was led by Washington with 14 points in the game, nine of which came in the final quarter. Marquet finished with eight points to finish as the team’s second leading scorer.

Photos available at Shelbycountyphotos.com

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