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The Helena Huskies ended Pelham’s streak of seven-straight trips to the state playoffs as Amari Grant’s 26-point night fueled a statement win to reach sub-regionals for the first time since 2022. (For the Reporter/Robert Dean)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – The Helena Huskies entered the Class 6A, Area 8 tournament needing one of their best performances of the Lake Graham era to fulfill their dream of a postseason berth.

They got just that, making a statement against a perennial contender to reach regionals in the Pelham Panthers that they had earned their place in the playoffs.

The Huskies defeated the Panthers 60-42 on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Chelsea High School in the Class 6A, Area 8 semifinals in a game that was close in the opening minutes before Helena blew it wide open.

For the Huskies, it’s their first playoff appearance since their run to the Elite Eight in 2022, and it marks the first time Pelham will miss the state playoffs since 2017, ending a run of seven-straight trips to the 6A playoffs.

Helena and the Panthers went blow-for-blow in the opening two minutes of the game as the Huskies offense got countered by a pair of Pelham 3-pointers to tie the score at 6-6.

From there though, Helena went on an 8-0 run anchored by Amari Grant finding her way to the free throw line and multiple transition layups as the Huskies pressure frustrated the Panthers.

That gave Helena a 14-6 lead with 2:37 left in the first, and Pelham needed a response. However, Tee King getting into foul trouble complicated matters as the Panthers’ best shooter had to sit in the final minutes of the first quarter and the entire second quarter.

The Huskies and Pelham traded another pair of baskets before a Pelham layup in the final seconds of the first cut the deficit to 16-10.

Helena restored that eight-point lead just 15 seconds into the second quarter, but 3-pointers from Maliyah Dixon and Ally Barfield made it just a one-point game with 6:06 remaining until halftime.

Grant emphatically responded on the other end with a 3-point play to put the Huskies up 22-18, and Mallory Rhodes and Hannah Satterfield hit 3-pointers shortly after to increase that lead to double digits.

Dixon responded with a 3-pointer of her own to cut the deficit to seven, but the Panthers couldn’t score again for the final four minutes of the first half.

Helena couldn’t put up much offense in the last few minutes but got an Isabel Heintz 3-pointer and Gracelyn Ambrose layup to go into halftime with a 33-21 lead.

King rejoined the action in the third quarter and hit the opening shot of the half, but Helena had a response for just about anything Pelham mustered on the offensive end. Shea Gallagher cut the deficit to eight with 5:20 remaining in the third, but that was as close as the Panthers would get.

King scored throughout the third to try and keep Pelham in it, but layups from Rhodes and Ambrose put the Huskies up 45-32 at the end of the third quarter.

Bankston dominated the low post in the early minutes of the fourth quarter to score a pair of baskets and make it an 11-point game with 5:45 to go.

Helena had its way in the second half though as Grant and other successfully drew contact to get to the free throw line while frustrating the Panthers with pressure.

The Huskies landed the decisive blow with a 10-0 run in the fourth, using a Grant and-1, two Satterfield layups and another 3-pointer to increase the lead to 21 with 3:43 remaining. Helena cruised from there en route to an 18-point win to reach sub-regionals.

Grant finished the game with 26 points, including an 11-for-16 performance from the free throw line, to lead all scorers. Satterfield had 13 points to join her in double figures.

Heintz scored seven points, Rhodes and Jaterrica Moody earned five points apiece and Ambrose finished with four points.

Barfield led Pelham with 11 points and Dixon scored 10 points to make it two Panthers in double figures. King dropped nine points and Shea Gallagher and Bankston each had six points to finish out a 16-12 season.

The Huskies will now face the Chelsea Hornets in the area finals on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. That game will decide whether Helena is at home or on the road for sub-regionals on Friday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.

After the game, Grant, Rhodes and Heintz earned places on the Class 6A, Area 8 All-Area team alongside King, Barfield and Bankston from the Panthers.

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