Oak Hall Bounces Back Against Fort White In Boys Basketball

After a big loss to Fort White last season, the Oak Hall Eagles got some payback Jan. 23 with a decisive 50-32 boys basketball win against the visiting Indians.

Eagles Snatch An Early Lead

The game got off to a 5-5 start before Oak Hall (11-5) went on a 13-0 scoring run to end the first quarter leading 18-5. Oak Hall senior Harrison Beach put up seven straight points in the quarter, landing a 3-point shot in between two layups just before 6-foot-5 senior Andrew Powell made his second 3-point shot of the game to push the Eagles out to the 13-point lead.

Ending The First Half Strong

At the quarter break, Oak Hall coach Monte Towe pointed out to his team that all five of Fort White’s points had been manufactured from offensive rebounds and urged his team to pressure the Indians (13-4).

The second quarter looked much the same for Fort White, as it struggled to find a rhythm on offense.

Much like Harrison, who outscored the entire Indians team in the first quarter, Powell produced seven of the Eagles’ 13 points in the second quarter, including a contested 3-point shot.

With Fort White only able to score eight second-quarter points in answer to Oak Hall’s 13, the Indians entered halftime trailing 31-13.

Going Up 20

The second half started slowly, as the only scoring for the first few minutes came from free throws taken by the Indians.

The third quarter only elicited 16 total points, nine coming from Oak Hall’s Beach brothers. Harrison and Jackson scored five and four points, respectively, to increase Oak Hall’s lead over Fort White to 20 as the quarter ended at 40-20.

Sealing The Victory

The final quarter seemed to be nothing but the clock ticking down, as the Indians were all but defeated. The last eight minutes contained the highest-scoring quarter for Fort White, which added 12 points to its total against a more relaxed Oak Hall defense.

The Eagles added 10 points with the help of two 3-pointers by Powell to help settle the final margin.

Revenge

Last January, Fort White routed Oak Hall 65-37. Eagles assistant coach David Stirt said  after last year’s game he expected this year’s matchup against Fort White would be difficult. Additionally, with Oak Hall coming off of a “brutal loss” in overtime the previous Friday by two points at Jacksonville Bishop Snyder, the Eagles were unsure of what to expect.

Stirt also acknowledged that with the injury of  starting center and leading rebounder Gavin Jones, some players around the perimeter needed to step up to get the scoring done, and did just that.

The Road Ahead

Stirt said the Eagles “have competed every single game” and only “lost five games this year by a total of 15 points.”

The Eagles (13-5) went on to defeat Interlachen, 49-42, on the road last Thursday and picked up a 62-28 home win against St. Joseph Academy last Friday before playing at Bronson on Tuesday .