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The Thompson Warriors claimed the season series over Chelsea as a dominant fourth quarter sealed their second win over the Hornets in as many Fridays. (For the Reporter/Cari Dean)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – For the second straight Friday night, the Thompson Warriors rolled to a big victory over the Chelsea Hornets, this time defeating their county foes 59-31 at Thompson High School on Friday, Dec. 8.

The Hornets trailed in the first three quarters but kept the game within reach during that time. However, a late 23-5 run by the Warriors put the game away and sealed the 28-point win.

Thompson’s defense got off to a strong start, holding Chelsea to just six points to end the first quarter with an 11-6 advantage.

The Hornets’ offense came to life in the second quarter, bouncing back for a double-digit effort. While Thompson scored 15 more points before halftime, Chelsea ensured that they would walk into halftime within a few possessions of the lead as the Warriors led 26-18 at the break.

The Hornets carried that fight into the third quarter to make it the tightest eight minutes of the contest.

Their defense held Thompson to 10 points in the third, but they couldn’t capitalize on the other end of the court and still trailed 36-26 going into the fourth quarter.

That was when the Warriors flipped the switch and dominated on both offense and defense to pull away.

Thompson scored 23 points in the final period while holding Chelsea to just five more. That proved to be the difference maker for the Warriors to win 59-31 and sweep the season series.

Daeshaun Morrisette led all scorers with 15 points, and he also had five assists, three rebounds and three steals.

In his first game of the season after starring for Thompson’s football team, Colben Landrew dropped 13 points and added three rebounds to make an impact in his season debut. Cam Pritchett also played in his first game of the year and had five rebounds.

Masiah Robinson packed the stat sheet once again with 10 points, five steals, three assists and two blocks on the night. Andy Olds scored eight points, including two three-pointers.

Meanwhile, for Chelsea, Avery Futch led the way with 10 points and three rebounds and Jaxon Shuttlesworth had six points and a pair of rebounds and steals.

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