By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The Helena Huskies boys basketball team picked up a solid 51-47 victory over 6A opponent McAdory Yellow Jackets at home on Monday, Dec. 21.

Two weeks prior, Helena lost to McAdory in a tough overtime matchup, but this time the Huskies got the best of the Yellow Jackets using strong defense and good shot selection at the rim in the second half.

“I thought our defense was really good all night long,” said Helena head coach Chris Laatsch. “They’re very explosive and they run really good stuff and are good scorers. So to hold them to what we did is a real tribute to our defense and how hard they played.”

Helena struggled in the first half to make shots offensively but trailed by just three heading into the locker room down 23-20.

The third quarter featured an 18-9 run by the Huskies as they took a 38-32 lead at the end of the third quarter and helped give Helena momentum heading into the final quarter.

The Helena defense held off a late push by the Yellow Jackets to try and get the game to overtime and won 51-47 to avenge the loss to McAdory earlier in the season.

Paul Brown finished with 13 points in the game and Justin Stuckey added nine points in the win for Helena.