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Tee King’s 23-point performance powered the Pelham Panthers to their second win of the week against the Helena Huskies, which sets up a battle for the one seed with Briarwood on Monday, Jan. 29. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers won the first round of their rivalry series with the Helena Huskies on Tuesday, Jan. 23, and three days later, they emerged victorious at Pelham High School with a 59-24 win on Friday, Jan. 26.

With the victory, Pelham improves to 2-1 in area play and can force a coin flip for the No. 1 seed in the area tournament and a spot in sub-regionals with a victory on Monday, Jan. 29 in its rescheduled home game against Briarwood.

After Pelham controlled much of the game against Helena on Tuesday, the teams were closely matched during the opening quarter of play.

In the end, it was the Panthers’ baskets from Tee King, Gerren Ingram and Shea Gallagher that helped them take a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Pelham’s defense performed well and allowed just one three-pointer by Helena from the field and six more points before halftime.

On the offensive end, King dropped seven points as part of a 13-point second quarter for the Panthers, which took a 20-12 lead into the halftime locker room.

King continued to dominate in the third quarter with 10 points in the first eight minutes of the half, including two three-pointers.

Karma Wynn added five points as Pelham spread the scoring out across its offense, and that helped the hosts win the quarter and increase their lead.

With the Panthers in control of the game going into the fourth quarter, they continued to have a balanced attack with five different scorers during the closing moments of the game.

Taylor Hollingsworth scored five points in the fourth and Janiah Harris found the scorebook for the first time in the game as Pelham put the finishing touches on the 35-point victory.

King scored a game-high 23 points to lead both teams and added five rebounds as well. Wynn scored 10 points and secured six steals and Hollingsworth had eight points.

For Helena, Isabel Heintz led the Huskies with 10 points and Amari Grant scored six points.

While Pelham still has its last area game left against Briarwood, Helena will shift its focus to a pair of non-area games before the area tournament begins against Thompson on Monday, Jan. 29 and Oak Mountain on Wednesday, Jan. 31.

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