By SETH HAGAN | For the Reporter 

ALABASTER – The consolation game of the Thompson Thanksgiving Invitational on Tuesday, Nov. 20, featured Montevallo and Jemison teams looking for a bit of redemption after first-round losses on Monday.

However, only one school snatched the opportunity and it was Montevallo by a landslide. The Bulldogs held the Panthers without a basket the entire first half and ran away with it early en route to a 73-19 victory to pick up their first win of the 2018-19 season.

Montevallo (1-2) raced out to an early lead and buried Jemison early forcing a staggering 26 turnovers in the first half with 16 in the first quarter alone.

Jemison missed its only two free throw attempts and the Bulldogs were up 20-0 before anyone could blink at the end of the first quarter.

Montevallo head coach Greg Dickinson admitted the team’s late defensive effort from the previous night against Bibb County carried over, especially with the team’s full court press.

“We showed a lot better effort tonight, I’ve got a lot of younger guys–this is the youngest team I’ve had here–and it was more about getting them reps tonight and experience to get ready for this year,” he said. “But they did come out and play hard and picked up the defense.”

Montevallo continued to pour it on with their highest scoring effort in the second quarter. The Bulldogs connected on 10 field goals and forced another 10 turnovers to blow the game open at halftime, 46-7.

MHS had every opportunity to throw out a subpar effort, but the Bulldogs are a young, scrappy bunch looking to make their mark early.

“We have three starters out so we had to move some younger guys up from the JV team due to injuries,” Dickinson said. “Now we’re just learning man, working as we go. Two freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors so it’s a young group.”

The Panthers finally scored their first bucket with 4:11 to go in the third quarter, but their deficit had grown to nearly 50 at that point.

Montevallo had six players score between eight and 11 points with Jamarius Carter leading the team with 11 and MJ Jones adding 10.