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By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–To say the Helena Lady Huskies have played a lot of games in recent weeks would be an understatement. Despite playing in numerous tournaments in recent weeks leaving little time for practice, Helena flexed its muscles to start area play by defeating rival Pelham 58-24 at home on Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Helena head coach Alan Skinner called the first half of the season “brutal” for the Lady Huskies referring to the amount of games played and quality of teams, but also said it’s not an excuse.

On Jan. 10, Helena jumped out to a            17-5 lead and never looked back. The most impressive quarters came in the first and final eight minutes for the Lady Huskies.

“That was a good game for us. We actually had time to prepare for a game,” Skinner said. “Our first half of the season has been brutal. I think the games that we’ve lost this season, in eight of those games were probably anywhere from four to five points. You can look at film and it doesn’t take long to see where we lose those points. It was good to get off the slump and we’ll have the next three days to practice.”

Helena made sure a close loss was not going to happen to open area play as Jordan Jones led the Lady Huskies with 16 points and Mekhi Mayfield also added 15 points as everyone on the roster saw playing time.

“Our effort was really good and we competed well,” Skinner said. “We also shot the ball well and didn’t take too many bad shots. We stayed out of foul trouble and just tried to focus on what we do. Mekhi did the best job she’s done all year at attacking the rim.”

As a team, Helena made six 3-pointers and went on a 21-3 run in the fourth quarter to complete an impressive area win.

Helena is now 1-0 in area play and got a jump-start in the standings in an area that includes the Huskies, Pelham and Chelsea.

Pelham’s Kaytlyn Maddox led the Lady Panthers with six points in the loss.

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