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Helena’s Jordan Jones (23) finished with 20 points to help lead Helena to a 42-24 victory over Thompson on Tuesday, Nov. 14. (Reporter Photo/Keith McCoy)

By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–After falling in their opening game of the season to Mountain Brook, the Helena Huskies girls basketball team looked to get back on track against another 7A opponent and they did just that, defeating Thompson 42-24.

Helena seniors Jordan Jones and Brandis Lang combined for 30 of the Huskies 42 points in the game as Jones finished with 20 and Lang added 10 points, respectively.

Both teams had a tough time finding the basket, but in the end, it was Helena that made more plays. The fourth quarter belonged to Helena as the Huskies outscored Thompson 10-3 in the final eight minutes.

Helena opened the first quarter with a 13-7 lead and never fell behind in the game. Thompson never scored more than nine points in any quarter as the Huskies improved to 1-1 on the season.

Helena head coach Alan Skinner said the difference in the fourth quarter and most of the game was the Huskies ability to cause turnovers.

“Going into the fourth quarter defensively we were able to turn them over a little bit more,” Skinner said. “Being so young, we’re far more comfortable playing in transition so we like to get out and run. It can be counterproductive at times because that late I’m telling them know what we need and know what we don’t so that we shouldn’t have to be missing layups late because we’re trying to force transition that we don’t need.”

Zoria Miller led the Warriors with six points in the loss as Thompson could never get going offensively.

To open the season, Helena shot under 50 percent from the free throw line but rebounded against Thompson finishing 10-16 at the foul line. Although there was improvement on foul shooting, the Huskies still need to work on finishing near the basket.

“The fact that we won that game having missed 20 layups is miraculous in it of itself,” Skinner said. “The first game to second game we played a little better defensively but we still get confused and lost at times. We shot free throws a little bit better tonight. All in all, I was pleased at the improvement. As sloppy as it was, we’re still going to celebrate winning and we’re still going to put winning on a pedestal regardless how bad it looks because at the end, only one team gets the win.”

Helena and Thompson are both now 1-1 on the season.

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