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Michael Jones led Montevallo with 29 points against Helena to help the Bulldogs pick up a dominant 72-48 win against the county opponent. (For the Reporter/Larry Dancy)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor 

MONTEVALLO – Michael Jones’ 29 points and a strong defensive effort was more than enough for the Montevallo Bulldogs to pick up one of their biggest wins of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 8, by taking down the Helena Huskies 72-48.

With the Huskies down to just eight players for the game due to the chaos of the year, Montevallo capitalized with a physical and exhausting pace in the game.

And with the Bulldogs fresher in the final quarter, Jones poured in 17 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Huskies from mounting a comeback.

In the early going, however, it was his teammates who carried the load. With Jones in and out of the game throughout the first half, the offense still put up 34 points behind seven different scorers.

Grey Williams was big with two 3-pointers for the Bulldogs and a 2-2 mark at the free throw line to total eight points in first half. Beyond that, Jones posted seven points in the half with an and-1 and two other field goals, while Dylan Campbell knocked down two field goals and went 202 at the free throw line to post six points.

That offensive balance helped the Bulldogs post 16 points in the opening quarter and 18 in the second quarter.

But it was the defensive effort that made the difference in the first two quarters and allowed Montevallo to take a cushioned lead into the halftime break.

The Bulldogs made Helena work for everything with a physical presence, which led to the Huskies earning 11 free throws in the first two quarters. They made eight of those with Jordan Washington draining all six of his free throws.

Helena, however, only scored five points in the first period and 11 in the second, which put them in a 34-16 hole at the half.

And coming out of the break, Montevallo’s offense continued to improve, which quickly helped the lead grow.

In the third quarter, the Bulldogs posted 19 more points behind six from Xavier Cartwell and five more from Jones.

The defensive effort also carried into the second half, as Montevallo gave up just 11 points for the second quarter in a row, which allowed the Bulldogs to extend the lead to 53-27.

Helena’s offense finally put together some fight in the final quarter, thanks in large part to Owen Davis’ performance.

He posted 14 points in the final quarter of the game, but he was in a shootout with Jones, who caught fire from beyond the arc with four 3-pointers.

The Huskies outscored Montevallo 21-19 in the period, but that wasn’t nearly enough as the Bulldogs capped off their 24-point win.

Williams finished with nine points for Montevallo to finish as the team’s second-leading scorer, while 11 total players scored.

Davis led Helena with 17 points, while Charlie Marshall added 10 points and Washington had eight.

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