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By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Kendall Smith and Egypt Daniel combined for nearly half of Pelham’s scoring output as the Panthers handled the visiting Spain Park Jaguars 60-50 on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

The game was back-and-forth in the first half, with neither team showing an edge. Pelham pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Spain Park 24-9 to give the Panthers the victory.

Kendall Smith finished the game with 15 points, while Egypt Daniel finished with 13. They were the only two players on Pelham to score in double figures.

Spain Park saw an excellent performance from Tommy Morrison, who finished the game with 14 points. Harrison Stewart added 10 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Pelham’s balanced offense and stellar defense.

The game began with the Panthers jumping out to an 11-7 lead after a hot start for Kendall Smith.

Every time the Jags attempted to get the lead back in the first, Pelham counterpunched with a momentum play. However, Spain Park hung around, as the Panthers headed to the second quarter up 16-11.

Pelham continued to extend their lead in the second, leading 19-13 with 6:22 left in the quarter. The Jags, though, clawed back, and ended up with a 28-24 lead headed to the half. Spain Park used potent offense from Stewart and timely shooting from Morrison to take the lead.

As the third quarter began, the Jaguars maintained a slim 30-29 lead. After this, the Panthers jumped out to a 38-32 lead behind hot shooting from Daniel.

While they didn’t light up the stat sheet, Marcus Arnold and Greyson Childress made critical plays in the third quarter. After Spain Park cut the lead to three points, Arnold hit an and-1 off an entry pass from Daniel and then followed that possession up with another bucket to create a 5-0 run on his own. After a bucket from Stewart for the Jaguars cut into the lead again, Childress hit an and-1 to make it 46-37 and then created a turnover leading to a bucket.

This crucial sequence from Arnold and Childress created a 48-37 lead for Pelham headed to the final period.

Spain Park head coach DJ Black benched his starters in the fourth quarter despite being only down 11. This caused Pelham to expand its lead to 56-39 with 5:17 left in the game. Following a last-gasp run to cut the lead to 10 with 1:58 left, the Jags did not commit any fouls to stop the clock, leading to the 60-50 final.

Up next for Pelham is a home game against the Chelsea Hornets on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Spain Park, meanwhile, will travel to Helena on the same day to face the Huskies at 7 p.m.