Armstrong's shot sends Oak Mountain to Regional Final
Everyone was happy about that one, according to Oak Mountain’s Payton Youngblood.
Youngblood was referring to Wyatt Armstrong’s three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to lift Oak Mountain to a 43-40 victory over Sparkman in the Class 7A Northwest Regional Semifinal on Friday afternoon at Wallace State Community College.
“Will (Stephenson) skipped it over to Gabe (Haynes), he drove and I was on the block. I made a little cut and he kicked it out. I shot it and I knew as soon as it left my hand that it was going in,” Armstrong said.
The shot gave the Eagles the lead one last time, as they held it for much of the contest, before Brandon Miller’s field goal gave the Senators the lead with just over two minutes to play.
Sparkman erased a seven-point deficit after three quarters, and ends its season with a 13-15 record. Oak Mountain now boasts a 25-7 record, but the product on the floor mirrored two high-quality teams.
“No question. I didn’t really realize their record until Wednesday,” Oak Mountain head coach Chris Love said. “They’ve played an unbelievably tough schedule. We knew they were a very, very good basketball team. They are as athletic as any team we’ve played this year.”
Once the going got tough, the Eagles stayed the course.
“We handled (Sparkman’s press) very well, didn’t lose our composure, and just played our game,” guard Will Stephenson said.
Youngblood was also the subject of a highlight play, as a third quarter dunk sent the rather large Oak Mountain cheering section into a frenzy.
“It was a big one. I knew they were trying to press early on, and I knew we could get that run-out and go,” he said.
The Eagles needed the contributions of everyone, as no player on the team reached double figures in the score column.
Yeadon Patrick scored all seven of his points in the first quarter, as Oak Mountain held an 11-5 lead after a period of play.
The rebounding effort by Oak Mountain was also impressive, as it held a 20-11 edge on the boards in the first half. Stephenson had six boards at the half, while Youngblood had five of his seven total in the opening two quarters.
Youngblood and Armstrong each scored nine to lead the Eagles. Patrick and Warren Shader added seven each. Haynes and Stephenson scored four apiece.
Maurice Anderson led Sparkman with 11 points, followed by JP Fletcher’s ten points.
Oak Mountain advances to the Regional Final, where it will play Area 5 rival Hoover, Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 2:15 p.m.
“I’m so happy for our kids that we have the opportunity to play another game,” Love said.