Pelham stifles Spain Park, earns wire-to-wire win in area opener
Published 6:29 pm Saturday, January 4, 2025
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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
HOOVER – A great defensive start for the Pelham Panthers turned into a wire-to-wire win over the Spain Park Jaguars to kick off area play.
Pelham defeated Spain Park 47-41 on Friday, Jan. 3 on the road at Jag Arena as the Panthers started out their Class 6A, Area 8 slate on the right note.
Pelham’s defense came out of the gate strong and held Spain Park scoreless until the 6:34 mark in the second quarter.
The Panthers slowly but surely built out a lead in response as a pair of Eli Lewis baskets forced a Jags timeout trailing 4-0 with 2:45 remaining in the first. A second chance basket and a Sam Tolbert 3-pointer extended the lead to 9-0 by the end of the quarter.
Kendall Smith kickstarted the quarter with a 3-pointer less than 30 seconds into the quarter. About a minute later, Tommy Morrison got the Jags on the board with a 3-pointer, but that proved to be their only basket from the field in the first half as multiple deep shots from the hosts missed the mark.
Soon after, Pelham hit three field goals in less than a minute, the last coming off a free drive to the rim by Smith. Spain Park hit a pair of free throws during that stretch to limit the damage, but neither team found the basket in the final 3:10 of the half, giving the Panthers an 18-5 lead at halftime.
However, Pelham’s offense got out to a slow start in the third quarter, scoring just once in the first six minutes of the quarter.
After a dunk from Morrison to start the scoring for the Jags, they gradually chipped away at the lead from the field and at the free throw line to make it a 20-17 game with 2:10 left in the third.
The Panthers responded to the 12-2 run with an Andy Olds basket just seconds later, and that kicked off a frantic end to the period. Trey Pittman and Harrison Stewart exchanged 3-pointers less than 30 seconds apart from each other before Egypt Daniel’s and-1 gave Pelham a six-point lead with 8.7 seconds left until the fourth.
That didn’t even prove to be the final word of the third quarter thanks to an easy transition layup from Josh Fonbah to cut the deficit to 28-24 heading into the fourth.
Despite the pressure from the Jags, the Panthers remained in control and grabbed a nine-point advantage thanks to five points in 40 seconds from Marcus Arnold.
Morrison and Riley Kent responded with baskets to make it a two-possession ballgame, but Kendall Smith gave Pelham a shot of momentum thanks to a crossover and a 3-pointer, putting his team up 38-29 with 5:19 left.
The teams went scoreless for nearly two minutes before Fonbah hit a 3-pointer, and 20 seconds later, a pair of Spain Park free throws made it a four-point game once again with 2:45 remaining
Eli Lewis immediately responded by converting an and-1 opportunity with 2:23 left in the game. It kicked off a short Panthers run which was capped off by a long pass from out of bounds to Daniel on the other end of the court, who settled the ball and then dunked it to put the Panthers up 47-36 with 55 seconds left.
That proved to be the final nail in the coffin as Pelham sealed the nine-point win.
Lewis led the Panthers with 13 points. Smith scored nine points, Daniel, Arnold and Olds each had five points and Robinson finished with four points.
As for the Jags, Fonbah scored 12 points, all of which came in the second half. Morrison earned eight points, Garrett Gorman posted seven points, including five in the third, and Kent had four points.
Pelham improves to 10-11 with the win and 1-0 in area play as it prepares to travel to Chelsea to face the Hornets on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Spain Park dropped to 7-13 and will look to bounce back from an 0-1 start to area play with a home game against the Helena Huskies on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. at Jag Arena.