Oak Mountain surges back to defeat Hewitt-Trussville in final minute

Published 6:10 pm Wednesday, January 24, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – While the Oak Mountain Eagles trailed by eight points heading into the fourth quarter of their area battle with the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies, they refused to go down without a fight.

The Eagles rallied back in the final period to get within one, and with 11 seconds left, Kevin Jasinski stole the ball and found Emanuel Johnson for the game-winner to claim the 57-56 win on Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Johnson’s basket capped off a 16-point fourth quarter for Oak Mountain where he scored 10 points off a perfect 4-4 shooting performance from the field.

The Eagles also started off the game with a 16-point quarter as they scored all around the floor. Kunard had five points and Grey Williams went 5-5 from the free throw line in a seven-point first quarter.

That helped Oak Mountain just edge past Hewitt for a 16-15 lead after the opening period.

The teams remained tightly matched in the second quarter with Oak Mountain continuing to excel from the charity stripe and Jasinski leading the way with four points.

However, the Huskies scored 13 more points before halftime to grab a one-point lead of their own going into halftime.

Hewitt’s offense erupted for 20 points in the third quarter as they built out a lead and took control of the game.

The Eagles limited the damage with four three-pointers from four different shooters, and their 14 points in the third kept them within single-digits.

The 48-41 score-line at the start of the fourth left the door open for Oak Mountain to surge back on both ends of the court, limiting the Huskies to eight points on defense while Johnson and Jasinski helped complete the comeback on offense.

That led to the game-winning Johnson basket that sent Eagles fans home happy with a one-point win.

In addition to his game-winner, Johnson led Oak Mountain with 16 points, including 13 in the second half. Jasinski scored 11 points, and Christopher Kunard also had a double-digit scoring night with 10 points.

Williams scored nine points and Will O’Dell added five points to help the Eagles wrap up the win.

The Eagles will wrap up area play on the road against the Chelsea Hornets on Friday, Jan. 26.

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