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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – After splitting a pair of thrilling meetings in November at Helena High School and the Thompson Thanksgiving Invitational, the Thompson Warriors and Helena Huskies met for a rare third matchup in non-area play, and the Warriors emerged victorious in the rubber match.

Thompson defeated Helena 49-33 on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at Warrior Arena to claim the season series between the county foes.

It was the second straight win for the Warriors after they defeated the JAG Jaguars 52-45 on Saturday, Dec. 14 to snap a three-game losing streak.

In that win over JAG, Ethan Hudson led Thompson with 14 points, Jaden Love finished with 13 points and Carson McKenney joined them in double figures with 11 points.

Against the Huskies though, the Warriors went to a balanced attack to begin with before Riley Bryant took over the game in the second half.

Six different Thompson players found the bottom of the net in the first quarter with Bryant and McKenney each scoring four points and DaMonte Tabb and Love knocking down a 3-pointer each.

On the opposite end of the floor, Helena couldn’t find the same offensive success as the Warriors defense limited the visitors to just five points in the opening period, giving Thompson an 18-5 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Huskies flipped the script in the second quarter, restricting Thompson to just seven points off three field goals. Denton McDonald and Drew Davis took advantage and scored multiple baskets on the offensive end to help Helena outscore the Warriors 10-7 in the second.

That made it a 10-point game at the half with Thompson’s lead at 25-15 going into the break.

Needing a spark on the offensive end, the Warriors got just that from Bryant. He knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to bookend a 10-point performance in the third, which ended up being the entirety of Thompson’s offensive output during the quarter.

The Huskies were also a one-man show on offense in the third quarter as Kevin Pinkard scored all five of his team’s points during that span. It wasn’t enough to match the Warriors’ pace and left the hosts’ lead at 35-20 ahead of the fourth quarter.

From there, it was an offensive sprint to the finish. The two teams combined for 29 points in the fourth quarter with McKenney’s five points leading five different Thompson scorers and Davis leading the charge for Helena with eight of his team’s 15 fourth-quarter points.

The Warriors kept pace with the Huskies’ scoring throughout the final period to see out the 16-point win.

Bryant was Thompson’s top scorer with 16 points. McKenney finished with nine points, Cam Pritchett scored six points and Love and Hudson each ended the night with five points.

Davis led Helena with 12 points, Pinkard scored eight points and Joseph King finished the night with six points.

The 7-6 Warriors will end the week with a matchup against the Shades Valley Mounties on Friday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Warrior Arena. They will then participate in the Huntsville City Classic from Dec. 26-28 at Huntsville High School, with their first matchup against Columbia on Dec. 26 at 4:30 p.m.

The Huskies will take an 8-4 record into a home showcase event at Helena High School. They will face Hewitt-Trussville on Friday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. before taking on Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2:30 p.m.