Spain Park girls beat Oak Mountain to begin area play
Published on Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 12:18am
Written by Alec Etheridge | Publisher
North Shelby – The Spain Park girls basketball team won its rivalry with Oak Mountain on Friday night, Jan. 5, giving head coach John Hader a victory in his Class 7A, Area 6 debut.
With the teams separated by less than 2 miles, the Jaguars headed to Oak Mountain to seal a thrilling four-point victory with a big fourth-quarter score from Jordyn Coley. did.
Corey scored seven of his nine points in the final quarter, helping turn a one-point deficit into a 38-34 victory at the end of the third quarter.
Spain Park led 26-25 going into the final quarter, but the Jags were able to cap off a special night defensively, holding Oak Mountain to just nine points from one scorer.
The Eagles’ only scorer was Caroline Hester, who had a big second half to keep her team in the game with 19 points, but the Jaguars made five free throws in the final period to seal the victory. I made it into something.
It was the end of a thrilling game in which neither team led by more than four points at the end of any quarter.
The thrilling rivalry battle began with a back-and-forth battle in the first quarter, with Victoria Flournoy setting the pace for the Jags with two 3-pointers, and Regan Whitaker scoring five points for the Jags as well. I showed you.
While those two were key for their respective teams in a low-scoring start, Spain Park got two points from Corey and one from Teagan Huey. Elizabeth Butler added two points for the Eagles, but it was the Jags who gathered an early 9-7 advantage.
This was part of a solid start for the Jaguars, who scored nine more points in the second quarter following a balanced attack with Nyla Calhoun, Ava Leonard, Flournoy, and Huey scoring during the period. did.
Oak Mountain also got off to a solid start, scoring a total of eight points from Addie Green, Joy Damron and Whittaker, one point better than in the first quarter, and kept pace with the Jags, who led 18-15. Enter halftime break.
The game plan didn’t change much after the first half, with both teams continuing to focus on defense, and the next quarter was a close game.
But this time, the Eagles had the advantage thanks to Hester.
She started the second half big, scoring 10 points in the third quarter on four made field goals and a 2-2 mark from the free throw line.
However, while Spain Park limited the damage by not allowing anyone else to score in that period, the offense scored eight more points, six of which came from Calhoun.
This gave the Jags a slim 26-25 lead going into the final quarter.
Hester continued to perform well in the second half, scoring nine points in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough as he was once again the only Eagles player to score.
The Jaguars put together their best quarter of the game, scoring 12 points and en route to a four-point victory.
Fleurnois led Spain Park with 10 points, while Corey and Calhoun both finished one point behind with nine.
Despite the loss against Oak Mountain, Hester led all scorers with 19 points.
Spain Park has won six of its last seven games and is 1-0 in area play.