Oak Mountain bests Briarwood in rivalry clash

Published 4:59 pm Friday, November 15, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – In a battle of close rivals, the Oak Mountain Eagles got the better of the Briarwood Christian Lions in a 75-53 victory on Thursday, Nov. 14 at Briarwood Christian School.

The Eagles came flying out of the gate on offense and outpaced the Lions in the opening minutes.

Eight different Oak Mountain players found the bottom of the basket in the first quarter. Gray Plaia led his team with five of its 23 points to build out an early lead.

While Briarwood hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 12 points in the opening quarter, it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the hosts as the Eagles led by double digits at the end of the first.

However, the Lions cut into that 23-12 deficit as their defense kicked in during the second quarter. Compared to the plethora of Oak Mountain players who got on the board in the first, only Chris Kunard and Kason Lemons scored from the field in the second as the Eagles scored just more nine points before halftime.

That allowed Briarwood to better its first-quarter offensive output, scoring 14 points including four apiece from Drew Mears and Eli Stubbs, to trail 32-26 at halftime.

Oak Mountain recovered in the third quarter and got back to its scoring ways. Will Patterson scored nine points during the quarter, including a 5-for-6 performance from the free throw line.

That combined with another balanced attack and their best defensive performance of the game helped the Eagles increase the lead to 56-34, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Patterson continued to excel from the line in the fourth quarter, going 6-for-8 while also knocking down another field goal to hit 20 points on the evening, a game high. Plaia also got into double figures with five more points in the third.

While Mears and Stubbs kept the Lions offense going in the fourth, it wouldn’t be enough to grab the victory as Oak Mountain secured the 22-point win on the road.

Patterson’s 20 points led the Eagles while Plaia scored 14 points. Chase Lamey contributed nine points, Lemons scored eight points, Patton Knight had seven points and Kunard and Will O’Dell each scored six points apiece.

As for Briarwood, Stubbs scored a team-high 18 points, Mears got into double figures again with 12 points and Tory Smith had nine points in the loss.

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