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The Pelham Panthers finished off area play with a 61-38 win over the Helena Huskies, seeing four players score in double figures on Friday, Jan. 24 at Pelham High School. (For the Reporter/Tracy Wood Franklin)

By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

PELHAM – Playing with an offensive spark and a desire to take down their rival, the Pelham Panthers took down the Helena Huskies on the final night of area play in dominating fashion.

Pelham saw four players score in double figures on the night, which propelled it to a 61-38 victory over Helena on Friday, Jan. 24 at Pelham High School.

Multiple Panthers took over the game at different times, and it was Tee King who started the game off strong. King started her night off with a 3-pointer before converting on one of two free throws in a later possession. 

King kept her momentum going by putting in two more two-point buckets, helping to total eight of her team’s 10 points in the first quarter.

The Huskies wanted to keep things from getting away from them early however, and did so with two 3-point baskets from Isabel Heintz. Ultimately, the opening period with Pelham on top 10-6.

As the second quarter got halfway through action, the scoring began to ramp up on both sides.

With another 3-pointer already under her belt in the period, King extended the Panthers’ lead to double digits with another deep shot, making it 19-9. A couple of possessions later, Taylor Hollingsworth hit a big two-point basket to get it back to a 10-point lead at 22-12.

Helena came back down the court and responded with an Amari Grant 3-point shot from the corner, but King was not going to let that slide, coming back on the ensuing possession to hit another 3-pointer of her own.

To cap off the half, King received the ball right in front of the Huskies’ bench and finished her phenomenal first half of play with her fifth 3-pointer of the night at the buzzer, giving Pelham a 28-16 lead at the break.

Coming out of the break, King handed the keys off to Hollingsworth and Ally Barfield, who began to put on the dagger in the third quarter.

Hollingsworth hit a 3-point basket to start things off before Janiah Harris put up four points of her own on back-to-back possessions. Suddenly, it was an 18-point game.

Hollingsworth later ran in for a layup, and Barfield followed that up on the Panthers’ next trip down the court with two points of her own, pushing the lead to 20.

The momentum continued on as Hollingsworth hit a turnaround jumper through contact, sending her to the line where she added one more more. Barfield then finished the quarter off with a five-point stretch on her own, giving Pelham a 49-24 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

While Helena attempted to mount some sort of energy with a 7-2 run to begin the fourth, it was not nearly enough to make a significant dent in the score. The Panthers coasted towards the buzzer with much of their bench seeing playing time, securing the 61-38 win to end area action.

King led all scorers on the night with 23 points, scoring 21 of them in the first half. Hollingsworth, Barfield and Harris all joined the scoring party in big ways as well, each putting up 10 of their own. Kaitlyn Cook also contributed, knocking down four points.

On the other end, Heintz was the Huskies’ top contributor wth 13 on the night. Grant continued her year with nine more points, while Mallory Rhodes dropped five of her own.

Following the game’s result, Pelham and Helena will now take each other on once again in the first round of the Class 6A, Area 8 tournament, which will be hosted at Chelsea High School. 

Before then, the Panthers will stay home to take on the Chilton County Tigers on Monday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m., while the Huskies will head back to their grounds to take on the Northridge Jaguars on the same day. That game will tip off at 5:30 p.m.

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