A familiar roadblock has prevented the Huntsville boys’ basketball team from making program history the past two seasons and the Panthers are hoping that the third time is the charm after easily dispatching their opening-round opponent in the AHSAA playoffs.

The third-ranked Panthers got physical early and found their shooting touch in the second half of a 68-32 victory over Oak Mountain in Wednesday’s Class 7A Northeast Regional semifinal at Jacksonville State’s Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The win puts Huntsville in the regional final where the Panthers will meet Spain Park – the team that has knocked them out of the running for the final four the past two seasons.

“What happened in the second half I didn’t think could happen after we struggled shooting in the first,” Huntsville coach Christian Schweers said. “We killed it on the offensive glass in the first half and once the ball started falling in the third, the floodgates opened. We had good effect on our 1-3-1 so we didn’t leave it.”

Huntsville (24-8) built an 8-3 lead in the opening quarter, but allowed the Eagles to pull within a bucket heading into the second period. Both teams matched points early in the second period before the Panthers pulled ahead with a 9-1 closing run to take a 10-point lead into the halftime break.

Simon Walker got the scoring started in the second half, leading to a 16-2 run that saw Oak Mountain score only twice, on Matt Heilberger shots, and ended with Huntsville outscoring the Eagles 25-4 in the third period.

The Eagles were able to match points again to open the final quarter, but were not able to keep pace with a blistering shooting performance from Huntsville. The Panthers made their first five shots of the fourth period and stretched the lead to as many as 38 points before settling for the 36-point victory.

Oak Mountain (24-9) never led and misses the regional finals for the first time in three seasons.

Star of the Game: Walker. The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard finished with a game-high 19 points, along with three assists, and tied for a game-high eight rebounds.

Did you know? Huntsville advances to its third straight regional final while seeking its first appearance in the state tournament. The Panthers have been bounced in the regional finals by Spain Park the last two seasons.

Stat sheet: Huntsville – The Panthers finished shooting 43.9 percent from the field – 30 percent from beyond the 3-point arc – and 12-for-12 on free-throw attempts. Defensively, they forced 16 turnovers that resulted in 18 points and held a plus-23 edge in rebounding. Caleb Harrison had 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals, and Josh Bowman and Brayden Rivers had eight points each and combined for seven rebounds. John David Gossett contributed six points, seven rebounds and four assists. Oak Mountain – The Eagles were held to 31.6 percent shooting overall and did not make more than four field goals in a single period. Heilberger led Oak Mountain with 16 points, three rebounds and two blocks, followed by Tre Thomas with eight points, two rebounds and three blocks. Eli Love added six points.

Coachspeak: “I knew this team was going to have a chance to be really good back in June. Just because you have a bunch of guys returning doesn’t always mean you’re going to be good. We’ve been preaching about being together and sacrificing. These guys have sacrificed all year for the betterment of the group. Their unselfishness is what has made them special.” – Huntsville’s Christian Schweers

“A game we felt like we had a chance to go out and compete with these guys. They were really good today and offensive rebounds were trouble for us. It was a day that shots weren’t falling and it had a lot to do with the defense Huntsville was playing. It’s not what you want to happen at this point, but I’m proud of this group for continuing to show toughness and grit.” – Oak Mountain’s Joel Floyd

They said it (about playing Spain Park for a third straight year in regional finals): “Nothing else to say, I’m ready to move on.” – Walker

“We came up short and after both of those losses, we’re trying to get back and punch through to the final four. The opportunity to play Spain Park is even better because they’ve had our number.” – Harrison

What’s next? Huntsville advances to the Northeast Regional final, where they’ll face Spain Park on Tuesday at Jacksonville State’s Pete Mathews Coliseum.