FROM STAFF REPORTS

HOMEWOOD – The Pelham Panthers defeated Jackson-Olin 57-40 in the 2015 Steel City Invitational at Samford University. Pelham came into the game with two losses in the tournament to Ramsey and Hoover, and looked to rebound. That is what the Panthers did Tuesday morning.

Pelham (8-5) outscored Jackson-Olin 31-19 to get the non-area win over the Jefferson County School.

In the first quarter, Pelham took an early 2-0 lead on two Justin Allison free throws with 7:20 in the quarter. With 6:02 left in the quarter, Alex Reese made a 12-footer to cut the Jackson-Olin lead to 6-4. With 5:07 left in the quarter, Reese made a layup to cut the Jackson-Olin lead to 8-6. With 4:25 left in the quarter, Pelham tied the game at 8-8 on another Reese layup. With 50 seconds to go in the quarter, Reese made another layup and the game was tied at 12-all after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Seth Torman made a layup to give Pelham a 14-12 lead with 7:15 to go in the quarter. With 4:18 left in the quarter, Reese made a driving layup to cut the Jackson-Olin lead to 19-16. With 2:45 left in the half, Reese grabbed a rebound and made a layup to trim the Jackson-Olin lead to 21-18. With 1:54 left in the half, Allison made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 21-all. With 1:22 left in the quarter, Allison grabbed a rebound and threw the length of the court for Reese and a thunderous dunk and Pelham took a 23-21 lead that they had for the rest of the game. With 22 seconds left in the half, Mitchell Rottier made a three-pointer and Pelham led 26-21 at the half.

In the third quarter, Allison started the Panthers off with a 3-pointer and a 29-23 Pelham lead with 7:25 left in the quarter. With 6:13 left in the quarter, Reese made a layup to give Pelham a 31-23 advantage. With 5:32 to go in the quarter, Reese made another breakaway dunk to give the Panthers a 33-23 lead. With 3:40 left in the quarter, Allison made a left-handed layup and Pelham led 36-23. With 1:47 left in the quarter, Reese grabbed a rebound and put it back in for a score and Pelham led 38-23. The Panthers led 40-30 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, Reese made a dunk to put the Panthers up 44-32 with 6:15 left in the quarter. With 5:47 left in the game, Rottier mad a driving layup and Pelham led 46-32. With 3:56 left in the game, a tip-in by Reese gave the Panthers a 50-34 lead. With 3:20 left in the game, Cole Whitman had a layup and Pelham led 54-34. With 1:31 left in the game, Reese had another dunk and Pelham led 56-37.

For the Panthers, Reese had 38 points & 9 rebounds, Allison had 10 points, 10 assists & 5 rebounds, Rottier had 5 points for Pelham.

Pelham lost their first two games of the tournament to Ramsey 68-58 (Reese 20 points, Allison 15 points) and Hoover 66-45 (Reese 21 points, Allison 10 points).