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On the final night of area play, Helena came back from down 17 points to defeat the Pelham Panthers 50-49 on Friday, Jan. 24 at Pelham High School thanks to a game-winning shot from Torrey Ward. (For the Reporter/Tracy Wood Franklin)

By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

PELHAM – With only 13 seconds left on the clock and a two-point basket separating Helena from a comeback for the ages, Torrey Ward came up with the chance to finish the deed, and did it.

As the Pelham Panthers inbounded the ball with 16 seconds left in the game, the Helena Huskies were able to force it out of bounds off of a Panthers player, giving them the ball under their own basket.

Nate Ferguson threw it into Ward for the Huskies, who gave the ball back to him. As Ferguson drove around to the top of the paint, he took a shot and missed it off the front of the rim. Luckily for him, Ward pulled it down and put up a shot of his own.

As the ball crossed through the net, the Helena faithful erupted in the gym at Pelham High School, as Ward had just given the Huskies their first lead of the game with 5.8 seconds left and ultimately the most important thing of all: a win over their rival.

While Ward only scored six points in the entire game, his play down the stretch was essential in Helena’s comeback efforts to defeat the Pelham Panthers 50-49 on Friday, Jan. 24, after being down by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Helena head coach Lucas McDonald was proud of the way his team fought, as it was a representation of something they had worked on all season long. 

“We just kept battling,” McDonald said. “This group, if we continue to battle, anything is possible. This area is wide open, anybody can beat anybody. It’s just a testament to these kids, and what they did tonight was do what we talk about and that’s just battle.”

The first quarter saw both sides have their own spurts of momentum, beginning with Pelham. After a slow first couple of possessions, the Panthers found big man Egypt Daniel behind the arc, getting a 3-pointer on the board to open up the scoring. Then, following a Huskies miss, the Panthers got back down the floor and put up a shot, which Sam Tolbert got back and put it in for his team to go up 5-0 early.

Joseph King then got Helena on the board soon after putting up a two-point basket of his own. Pelham’s Jayden Robinson then responded, scoring two points under the basket to increase the lead back to five.

King was able to cut the margin to three with a couple of free throws, but the Panthers saw Tre Pittman and Andy Olds each put the ball in the hoop in quick succession, extending it back to seven. 

However, the Huskies began to find their stroke again, and led by a 3-pointer from Denton McDonald, cut the game to one point, as Pelham took an 11-10 lead into the second.

The second period got off to a little bit of a slower start, but after the Panthers knocked down a 3-point shot from the stroke of Kendall Smith, things started to heat up for his squad.

After Smith hit another 3-pointer to make it 17-14 in favor of Pelham, the Panthers forced a turnover on the ensuing possession that led to Olds laying the ball up and in to make it a five-point lead.

Pittman then took things into his own hands, rattling off five straight points thanks to a 3-point basket and two free throws, putting Pelham on a 10-1 run right before the half. In a flash, the Panthers carried an eventual 26-19 advantage to the break.

As the third quarter commenced, Pelham continued to improve on its lead in its quest to fight for the No. 1 seed in the area tournament. 

After Helena attempted to gain some momentum back with a contested Drew Davis two-pointer in the paint, the Panthers extended things out with another 3-pointer from Smith, giving them an 11-point cushion.

The Huskies would not give up their efforts though, as Davis knocked down another two-point shot following an inside bucket from King.

Pelham continued to push through the physical second-half battle and found success with shots from Robinson and Marcus Arnold. Ultimately, it entered the fourth quarter with a 42-30 lead and one task, which was to take care of the ball and secure the game.

That plan was off to a great start for the Panthers as Tolbert put up an inside two-point bucket before hitting a 3-point shot in the corner on their next possession to make it a 17-point game.

It was then though, that Helena started making its move. After a two-point shot from McDonald and two free throws from King, Davis got inside on a later possession and fought through contact, getting a whistle and two points to go with it, which energized the Huskies who traveled to support.

Soon after Ferguson hit a corner 3-ball to make it an eight-point game. After Pittman scored two points for Pelham to stretch things to 10 again, Ward drew a foul on a later possession and went to the line, where he made both free throws.

Helena began to force turnovers on possession after possession while the Panthers were simply trying to run out the clock. On one of those turnovers, McDonald drew a foul of his own on the ensuing possession, putting him at the line to secure two more free throws.

As Pelham came back down the floor, the Huskies were able to force a steal and get the ball in the hands of Kevin Pinkard, who went on the fastbreak and scored, forcing a timeout in what was suddenly a four-point game. 

The Panthers came out of the timeout with a chance to settle down, but the momentum stayed with the unbreakable force Helena possessed. The Huskies forced another turnover, and coming back down the floor, they eventually found McDonald near the top of the key, who hit a massive 3-point shot that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Pelham called a timeout to follow, trying to regroup and escape with a win. However, what happened next was its worst nightmare. The Panthers threw it towards the back court, where it was tipped by Ward and deflected off of a Pelham player, giving the ball to Helena under their own basket.

As Ferguson got the ball soon after his own inbound pass, he put up a shot that missed and found the hands of Ward, who jumped back up and delivered the game-winning shot, creating pandemonium at Pelham High School.

McDonald discussed how big of a performer Ward has been, while also saying that the whole final sequence was a culmination of the big plays his entire team made down the stretch.

“He’s just an unbelievable athlete,” McDonald said. “If you don’t block him out, he can go get any rebound. He gets way up there. Sometimes, it’s kind of amazing to me how high he gets. He did a great job as all our guys did down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Everyone made big contributions and big plays and they stuck together and that’s how we pulled it out.” 

King led the Huskies with 13 points on the night, while McDonald trailed just behind him with 12. Davis put up all eight of his points in the second half, while Pinkard and Ward each dropped six of their own.

On the other side, the Panthers were led by Pittman, who scored 10 points in the contest. Smith recorded nine, while Tolbert put up seven and Olds came up with six. Robinson also contributed with four points in his performance.

With the result, Helena and Pelham will meet up once again in the first round of the Class 6A, Area 8 tournament as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, which will be played at Chelsea High School. The winner of that game will play either the Chelsea Hornets or the Spain Park Jaguars, with the loser’s season being over.

Before then, the Huskies will take its 13-10 overall record back home to host the Northridge Jaguars on Monday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.

“We need this, we needed a game like this,” McDonald said. “It’s going to be a tough week, but it’ll be a good week for us as we get ready for area.”

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