By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–In a down to the wire, tough defensive game where points were hard to come by, the Central Falcons upset the top area seed Helena Huskies 37-36 to take the Class 5A Area 7 Tournament Championship.

In a game that saw plenty of momentum shifts, it was Helena who got off to the fast start behind the home crowd, jumping out to a 13-4 lead after the first quarter and taking control of the game.

The Falcons would settle down in the second quarter and hit three three-pointers, one each by Jalen Richey, Jason Robinson and Jhalen Caddell.

The Falcons guarded the perimeter the entire game using a 3-2 zone to try and force Helena into making some tough outside shots.

Central head coach Robert Watson said the game plan was to force Helena to shoot deeper, more contested three-point shots.

“We wanted to contest the three and force them to shoot a deeper three,” said Watson. “We didn’t want them to stand around and shoot but the NBA type three we were going to let them have that.”

The Falcons held Helena to just six points in the second quarter and Central took a 21-19 lead into halftime.

Central came out in the third quarter and took momentum back in the game in large part to Kedarius Tinker’s second half scoring. Tinker scored all 14 of his points in the second half with 12 coming in the third quarter.

With Central up 31-25 with just a few seconds left in the third quarter, Tinker banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Falcons a 34-25 lead heading into the final quarter.

Helena would hold Central to just three points in the final quarter outscoring the Falcons 11-3, but on the last possession of the game Helena missed multiple chances around the rim and Central held on to win by one point, 37-36.

Helena was hurt in large part by poor free throw shooting, converting just 6-16 shots from the foul line.

The loss handed Helena it’s first loss to an area opponent this season and Watson credits the victory to a tough regular season schedule.

“A lot of teams worry about the regular season but I try to get my guys geared up for the postseason and that’s why we play a lot of tough teams all season long,” said Watson. “What we try to do is get better as the season progresses and so far we’ve been able to do that and it seems like everything is coming together.”

With the loss, Helena will travel to play at Sylacauga in the Class 5A Central-Sub Regional game on Tuesday, Feb. 16.