By Rubin E. Grant
Please forgive the Oak Mountain boys basketball team for celebrating its Class 7A, Area 5 regular-season championship with little more than a shrug.
The Eagles were happy to claim the title because it means they will host the area tournament this week. But they consider the regular-season crown just a starting point, not an end goal.
“It’s a good feeling, knowing out of the six area games we played we won five,” senior guard Zane Nelson said. “But that gets us nowhere. We’ve got to keep on pushing.”
Part of the Eagles’ lack of jubilation can be traced to last season. They finished the regular season with a 19-8 record but suffered a season-ending loss in the first round of the area tournament to Thompson, a team they had beaten twice during the regular season.
The painful memory of that loss is still somewhat fresh a year later. They have used it for motivation this season.
“I feel like last year was a learning experience,” Nelson said. “We can’t look ahead. We’ve got to take one game at a time and get better.”
Oak Mountain coach Chris Love has used the disappointing end to last season to keep his team focused on the task at hand.
“We just weren’t mature enough to handle that situation well last year,” Love said of the quick exit from the 2019 area tournament. “It was a great teacher going into this season.
“The focus has been on getting better. Whether we win or lose, our goal has been to get better.”
The Eagles clinched the regular-season area title with a 64-61 victory against Thompson on Jan. 24.
“I thought after the big win we celebrated a little, but it doesn’t mean we’ve accomplished anything to get into the playoffs,” Love said. “It’s just the first step.”
Oak Mountain will play Tuscaloosa County at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in its first area tournament game. Hoover will take on Thompson at 6 p.m. in the other game. The winners will meet for the area tournament championship at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Eagles (18-8) finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the final Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 7A poll last week, but with little fanfare.
“We’ve flown under the radar a little bit, but that’s OK,” Love said. “We don’t mind that.
“Out of our eight losses, seven we led late in the fourth quarter and three have come in overtime.”
Nelson likes being cast in the underdog role.
“We play with a chip on our shoulder,” Nelson said. “We know the other teams are good and they don’t consider us to be a top basketball team, so we’ve got to keep on pushing and winning. Our motto is ‘No matter what, get better.’”
Front-Loading the Season
The Eagles played a demanding schedule early on and had a 6-6 record after 12 games.
“We set up our schedule to play really tough games early in the season,” Love said. “We knew we would take some lumps and bruises, but that’s prepared us for the second half. This team needs to be challenged and it’s helped us get to this point.”
The Eagles enter the postseason with 12 wins in their last 14 games. One of the losses was a 48-45 double-overtime setback at Hoover.
“I feel like we’ve been clicking, especially on the defensive end,” Nelson said. “We’re talking more and communicating on the court. Everybody has found their roles. We know what we have to do.”
Nelson has played a starring role in the Eagles’ success. He leads the team in scoring, averaging 15 points per game.
“As a senior, it’s my last go ‘round, so I’ve got to bring it every game,” he said.
“Zane Nelson has had a special year,” Love said. He’s really competitive. He’s a kid who sometimes wants to take everything on himself. He wills himself to help us win.”
Nelson is one of only two seniors on the team. The other is 6-foot-4-inch forward Trey Sullivan.
“We’re really young,” Love said. “We start three sophomores, (forward) Will Shaver, (guard) Evan Smith and (guard) Wilder Evers. We’ve got another sophomore, (guard) Brady Dunn, who plays a bunch.
“Noah Young, a junior who played varsity last year, has really had a solid second half of the season and done what he needs to help us.”
Oak Mountain defeated Tuscaloosa County twice during the regular season, 60-36 at home and 41-32 on the road. But considering what happened last year, the Eagles will not take the Wildcats lightly.
“Tuscaloosa County is going to play their hardest and we’ve got to play our hardest,” Nelson said. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll let the chips fall where they may.”
