By JOSH ETHRIDGE/For the Reporter

The Pelham High School Panthers and Thompson High School warriors faced off in an intense battle of rivals on Dec. 3.  Both teams swapped leads throughout the game, but a late rally by the Panthers put the game away with a final score of 57-51.

Pelham’s J.T. Kepler got the scoring started on a two-point jumper. Thompson pulled back even with the Panthers after a pair of Tavarus Hall free throws followed up by a Blake Lewis layup giving Thompson a 4-2 lead.

Trailing 6-2, Zach Allison hit a long three pulling the Panthers to within one. Thompson ended the quarter with four straight points to give them a 10-5 lead.

The Warriors extended their run to six points to begin the second quarter with a layup by Reggie Chambers. Pelham fought back with a three point jumper by Mason Whitman and Dakota Clark added two free throws making the score 12-10.

Down 18-17, Thompson went on a 7-point run started off by two Reggie Chambers free throws, making the score 24-18.  Pelham’s Zach Morton hit the final bucket of the first half as the Panthers trailed 28-22 going into the break.

The Panthers came out of the break with the hot hand as they went on a 8-2 run evening the score a 30-30.

Blake Lewis broke the tie, scoring on a layup and then hitting two free throws. Pelham trailed the Warriors 39-37 entering the final quarter of the game.

The final quarter was controlled as they outscored Thompson 19-12, including a 10-2 run to finish the game. Allison scored 13 of Pelham’s 19 points in the fourth quarter.

“It’s one of those great rivalry games in high school basketball, every time we play it’s always a battle,” said Pelham head coach Joel Floyd after the game. “It was a great game tonight and we just figured out a way to win it at the end.”

Allison led Pelham with thirty points, hitting 10-10 from the free throw line.

Thompson’s Rashad Strother tallied 11 points for the Warriors and Drew Thomas finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.