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Westminster OM is heading to sub-regionals as the regular season area champions after turning around a losing season a year ago with a 4-0 run through area play and a win over Montevallo in the regular-season finale. (Contributed/Brandon Robbins)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

A year ago, the Westminster School at Oak Mountain Knights ended the 2023-24 season with a 4-16 record and missed out on the playoffs. Now, not only do they have a winning record, but they are on their way back to the state playoffs as regular season area champions.

Westminster OM wrapped up a perfect 4-0 run through Class 2A, Area 9 with a 32-7 win over the Holy Family Catholic Tornadoes on Friday, Jan. 24 and a 41-39 victory over the Cornerstone Schools of Alabama Eagles on Saturday, Jan. 25 for homecoming at Berry Middle School.

The Knights then capped off a 12-7 regular season with a 39-32 win over the Class 5A Montevallo Bulldogs on Monday, Jan. 27 at Montevallo High School, providing a fitting closer for a tremendous turnaround.

After returning all of their players from a year ago, Westminster put in the work over the offseason to improve under second-year coach Kelly Jacob and ended the regular season without a single loss to a Class 2A or 1A team while facing challenging teams like Shelby County and Spain Park in non-area play.

The Knights kicked off their four-game Class 2A, Area 9 slate with a 50-40 win over Cornerstone on Jan. 14 and a 42-2 victory over Holy Family ahead of two area home games in two days on Jan. 24 and 25.

In their home matchup with the Tornadoes, Chandler Varden and Sarah Jacobson fueled an early 10-2 run to give Westminster the lead at the end of the first quarter of play.

From there, the Knights defense continued to dominate, shutting out Holy Family in the second quarter while continuing to pile on points on the offensive end. Sissy Connor’s 3-pointer was one of the highlights of that quarter as Westminster extended its lead to 22-2 at the break.

While Holy Family outscored the Knights 5-2 in the third quarter, Westminster finished out the game strong as Jacobson scored four of her team’s eight fourth-quarter points while the defense secured another shutout quarter.

That gave the Knights the 25-point victory to put them one game away from a perfect run in area play.

Jacobson led the team with eight points while Connor and Peyton Ditto scored six points, Micah Hillman had five points and Varden finished with four points.

Westminster then found itself in a tight battle against Cornerstone in its annual homecoming game the next day.

Reese Robbins scored six points in the first quarter while going 4-for-4 from the free throw line. She had six of her team’s 10 points during that stretch as the Knights kept the Eagles’ deep shooting at bay and went into the second with a 10-8 lead.

Robbins continued to lead the offense in the second quarter with four points to get into double figures, but Cornerstone grabbed the lead as it spread the ball around to four different scorers to get 10 points as a team in the second.

As a result, the Eagles led 18-16 at the halftime break, but the Knights would continue to keep it close during the third quarter.

Robbins scored another five points in the third while Cameron Carter got into the scoring column with a crucial 3-pointer. Westminster still trailed going into the fourth quarter but remained well within striking distance while trailing 28-25.

Both teams brought their A-game offensively in the fourth quarter as they fought for a crucial guaranteed spot in sub-regionals. Cornerstone knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth while keeping the same scoring pace as the previous two quarters, but the Knights responded in an even bigger way.

After going scoreless in the previous three quarters, Helena Harbert took over the fourth quarter with 10 points off four field goals and a pair of free throws. Robbins, Lailie Parvin and Olivia Montgomery each scored down the stretch to help Westminster grab the lead and momentum.

The Knights scored 16 points during the fourth as they secured the two-point win and the regular season area championship.

Robbins and Harbert each got into double figures with 17 and 10 points, respectively, and Montgomery scored five points in the win.

Westminster took that momentum from its four-straight wins into a tough road test at Class 5A Montevallo just two days later.

The Knights and Bulldogs were evenly matched in the first quarter as Westminster countered baskets from Makiyah Cathey and Maegen Gentry with a Carter 3-pointer and a field goal from Robbins, leaving them tied 5-5 at the end of the first.

From there, the Knights started finding more success on offense in the second quarter as Varden scored five points to lead a 14-point scoring effort across six different scorers.

Montevallo kept it a two-possession game going into the break thanks to scores from Zabdy Perez, Cathy and Alecia Hall, but Westminster took a 19-13 lead into the halftime locker room.

Robbins and Sally Dixon provided a spark for the Knights offense in the third quarter as Robbins scored five points to add to her four from the first half while Dixon had four points during that span.

As a result, Westminster outscored the Bulldogs 11-6 to take its lead to 30-19 going into the fourth quarter.

Not willing to go down without a fight, Montevallo put together its best offensive quarter of the game in search of its second win of the season. Cathey dropped seven points in the fourth while A’Maya Hudson scored her first four points of the evening, putting the pressure on the Knights to respond.

However, Westminster kept the Bulldogs at bay with baskets from Parkin, Harbert and Dixon, and the team hit three big late free throws to help put away the seven-point win to spring the upset on a team from three classifications above it.

Robbins led the Knights with nine points, Varden and Dixon posted seven points and Harbert had five points. As for Montevallo, Cathy scored a game-high 14 points while Perez had nine points and Hudson finished with four points.

Now, Westminster will host the winner of Friday, Jan. 31’s area semifinal between Cornerstone Schools and Holy Family on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 5:30 p.m. at Berry Middle School in the Class 2A, Area 9 championship. The winner will host a sub-regional playoff game on Friday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.

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