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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – The Thompson Warriors are now winners of back-to-back games after picking up another victory at Warrior Arena, this time over Southside-Gadsden.

Thompson defeated the Southside Panthers 69-43 on Friday, Dec. 6 at Thompson High School to follow up Monday’s win over Jackson-Olin with another victory.

KK Fenderson and Destinee Ealy powered the Warriors offense early with Fenderson scoring six points and Ealy earning five points in the first quarter. However, that didn’t mean the production was limited to just them as four additional scorers helped Thompson score 18 points in the first.

That combined with a strong defensive effort that only surrendered one basket from the field left the Warriors up 18-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Thompson’s offense slowed down a bit in the second quarter, but 3-pointers from Ealy and Kayla Russell helped Thompson continued to outpace Southside as the first half went on.

The Panthers posted 10 points in the second quarter, but the Warriors still grew their lead by two before halftime, leading 30-18 heading into the halftime locker room.

Both offenses kicked into high gear in the third quarter with their best outputs of the night. However, Thompson continued to asset its will on the game as Ealy stepped up in a big way. She scored 12 of her team’s 23 points in the third quarter to pace the offense.

The Warriors would go on to outscore Southside 23-15 in the third quarter, which would increase their lead to 53-33 heading into the fourth quarter.

With the game in hand at that point, Thompson continued to pull away and got more players in on the scoring action. Sydney Coney and Braelyn Castille each hit three baskets in the fourth quarter to get into double figures for the game and put the finishing touches on the win.

In the end, the Warriors secured the 26-point victory to continue their winning ways.

Ealy led the team with 23 points. Castille, Fenderson and Coney all joined her in double figures as Fenderson and Castille each dropped 12 points and Coney finished with 10 points. Kayla Russell nearly made it five Warriors with at least 10 points but still finished with a solid nine-point outing.

Thompson will now face Pinson Valley at home on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. before a matchup against JAG on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 11:30 a.m. at Warrior Arena. The Warriors took last month’s meeting with the Jaguars 68-21 and are now looking for their second straight win of the year over the Montgomery-based side.