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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles improved to 11-0 on the season with another victory over their local rivals from just down U.S. 280.

Oak Mountain defeated the Chelsea Hornets 77-48 on Friday, Dec. 6 at Oak Mountain High School behind a massive 26-point night from Rocco Plaia to sweep the season series between the rivals.

Despite Plaia’s success on the evening, it was Chase Lamey who paced the offense early with five of his team’s 11 first-quarter points.

That slow start from the Oak Mountain offense allowed Chelsea to pounce on the opportunity and capitalize to take the lead. Aiden Owens scored seven points in the first quarter as the Hornets secured a 13-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

From there though, the Eagles bounced back on both ends of the floor and took control of the game.

Plaia took over and scored seven points in the second while his teammate Blake Benson scored multiple baskets. As a whole, five different Oak Mountain players combined for 19 points on the offensive end, but it was the performance on the defense which put the Eagles up big.

Oak Mountain held Chelsea to just six points in the second quarter and kept Owens scoreless after his seven-point first quarter. That put the Eagles up 30-19 as the teams went into the halftime break.

The lead only grew in the third quarter as Oak Mountain scored 29 points in the opening eight minutes of the half. Plaia scored 10 points in the third quarter alone while Will Patterson hit multiple 3-pointers and Will Hartsfield got onto the scoresheet with a pair of field goals.

Jordan Garcia did spark the Hornets offense back into gear by knocking down a trio of 3-pointers in a 12-point third quarter. However, the Eagles extended their lead by 10 to 59-38 at the end of the third quarter.

Oak Mountain’s offense continued firing until the end with Plaia scoring seven points to close out his 26-point night and William Burgess and Kasen Lemons each hitting a 3-pointer in the final minutes.

While AJ Malone offered up eight points in response for Chelsea in the fourth quarter, the Eagles finished out the 29-point victory to remain undefeated on the season.

In addition to Plaia’s game-high 26 points, Lemons finished with 12 points and Patterson joined them in double figures with 11 points. Benson scored seven points, Patton Knight and Lamey each posted six points, Burgess had five and Hartsfield secured four points.

Three Hornets also reached double figures as Garcia led the team with 16 points, Owens dropped 12 points and Malone scored 11 points. In addition, Brandon Griffith had five points.

Oak Mountain will travel to Pelham on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. as Eagles coach Joel Floyd looks to remain perfect this season as he faces his former team in the Panthers.

As for Chelsea, it will travel to Mountain Brook on Monday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in hopes of getting back on the right track.