By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The Helena Middle School 8^th grade boys basketball team recently completed a rare feat, winning the Southern Conference Championship to cap off a perfect 22-0 season.

Helena finished the season 14-0 in conference play that included opponents such as

John Carroll, Riverchase, Briarwood, Calera, Chelsea, Hueytown and McAdory.

Helena head coach Kane Peckham took over as the boys head coach four years ago, and in that span of time Helena has won the Southern Championship three out of the last four years.

When discussing the success of this season, Peckham credits a deep roster full of kids who can play.

“We just have a deep team and a lot of kids who could play,” said Peckham. “We have some bench guys who could’ve easily started for other teams. We’re a very unselfish team and if one guy is off one night, another will step up. It wasn’t just a one and two man show.”

In the first round of the season ending tournament, Helena beat John Carroll 50-14 to advance.

Next, Helena defeated Briarwood 50-30 in the semifinals and then went on to defeat Calera 42-27 for the championship.

The leading scorers in the championship game were Daunte Cave who finished with seven, Caden Pierce with 10 and Ladarrius Rice with nine.

Peckham noted that back-up point guard Jackson Waters came up huge in the fourth quarter taking care of the ball against Calera’s swarming defense while also adding five points.

Cave broke his wrist in the final two minutes of the game but ended up earning the Southern Conference MVP award for his outstanding play during this tournament.