By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

Two former county standouts who used to compete on the hardwood against each other in Class 6A Area 8 have both been named as Freshman of the Week in their respective conference at the collegiate level.

Jon Brown, a former Helena Husky standout and currently at the University of West Florida, and Justin Allison, a former standout at Pelham High School and now with Spring Hill College, both earned the honor during the week of Feb. 4.

Brown, who competes in the Gulf South Conference as a member of the Argos’ basketball squad, wasn’t just named the Freshman of the Week for the first time, but the fourth time this year.

After transferring from the University of North Alabama, Brown has fit right in at UWF where one of his coaches is Jason Laatsch, a graduate assistant and son of Brown’s former high school coach at Helena Chris Laatsch.

A big reason for Brown earning the honor for the fourth time this season was his impressive showing against Auburn University Montgomery where he went berserk pouring in 35 points thanks to going 8-10 from the field, 2-3 from beyond the arc and hitting his lone free throw.

As if that wasn’t enough, he came back against the top team in the Gulf South Conference, West Alabama, and posted 18 more points to help his team compete before dropping a heartbreaker 77-75.

Brown is now averaging 13 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 assists this season and has helped the Argos pick up wins in five of their last seven games.

Allison, who was having to come in off the bench early in the season, has earned more playing time in recent weeks thanks to his dominant play for Spring Hill as of late.

During the previous week, Allison averaged 25.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game and shot 47.9 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc—staggering numbers.

Allison posted 18 points on the road against Miles College and followed that up with 24 points against Lane college. Dating back to a 30-point performance against Fort Valley State on Jan. 7, Allison has scored in double figures in nine consecutive games and is now averaging 14.4 points per game.

In his last two games since that 24-point performance against Lane, Allison has posted 35 points and 19 points to continue that streak.

Both made their statements in Shelby County and are seemingly in the running for Freshman of the year in their respective conferences as well.

It’s nothing unexpected to those who followed the two athletes, but impressive nonetheless.