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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers are peaking at the right time after following up a 77-39 win over Chilton County on Monday, Jan. 27 with an even more dominant victory in their final home game of the regular season.

Pelham defeated the Marbury Bulldogs 90-71 while setting a new season high for points on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at Pelham High School.

During the evening, the Panthers honored their six seniors, Sam Tolbert, Kobe Hearon, Kendall Smith, Eli Lewis, Egypt Daniel and Kyle O’Neil, as part of a special senior night ceremony commemorating their last regular season home game at Pelham High School.

Once the game started, it was an offensive firefight in the opening half. Pelham and Marbury combined for 44 points in the first quarter, and on the offensive end for the Panthers, Tolbert scored nine points including a pair of 3-pointers while Hearon had five first-quarter points.

Pelham knocked down five 3-pointers in the first quarter, including deep shots from Smith and Egypt Daniel, to take a 24-20 lead into the second.

The Panthers kept rolling from there as Andy Olds joined the scoring party with two 3-pointers as he scored his first eight points of the night. Jacob Gibbs also had a big quarter with four points as seven different Pelham players combined for 22 points.

The Panthers continued to outpace the Bulldogs in the second quarter and took a 46-36 lead into the halftime locker room.

After scoring one point in the first, Marcus Arnold added six in the third quarter as Pelham continued its blistering scoring pace. O’Neil hit a 3-pointer on his senior night to help the Panthers keep taking the fight to Marbury.

Pelham outscored the Bulldogs 20-13 as a result of its best defensive quarter of the game while extending the lead to 66-39 ahead of the fourth quarter.

While Marbury kicked into overdrive in the fourth with 24 points in the final eight minutes, the Panthers kept their foot on the gas to keep them from gaining any momentum. Pelham matched that 24-point scoring output with six fourth-quarter points from Daniel and five from Tre Pittman and Smith.

The Panthers used those contributions from seven fourth-quarter scorers to put away the 17-point win.

Daniel led Pelham with 14 points, Tolbert had 13 points and Smith and Olds made it four Pelham players in double figures with 10 points apiece. Arnold scored seven points, Gibbs and Lewis each earned six points and O’Neil, Pittman and Hearon finished with five points each.

The Panthers finished the regular season with a 14-14 record. They will play the Helena Huskies for a spot in sub-regionals on Monday, Feb. 3 at 4:30 p.m. at Chelsea High School in the Class 6A, Area 8 semifinals.