By JEFF ALLISON / Special to the Reporter

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers defeated Oak Mountain 58-51 in the Jungle on Tuesday night. The Panthers trailed 23-20 at the half, but outscored Oak Mountain 38-28 in the second half.

The Panthers had a big 17-9 third quarter that was the difference in the game. “We had a great crowd for our first game of the season,” said Panthers head coach Joel Floyd. “Great turnout and when we play Oak Mountain, we know it is going to be a battle. Our guys did a great job for fighting the entire night. Great second half, we made some good adjustments at halftime and our players did a good job of making the changes in the second half.”

Pelham (2-0) opened the scoring on a Cole Whitman rebound and layup with 7:35 left in the first quarter and ended the quarter when Seth Torman hit two free throws to give Pelham a 12-11 lead heading into the second period.

In the second quarter, Oak Mountain reeled off six straight points to start the action, but Reese hit a three with 4:30 left in the half to cut the Eagles lead to 17-15. Reese added another three and a 12-foot jump shot later in the quarter to account for eight of Pelham’s second quarter points. Gabe Haynes sunk a three with two seconds left in the half to give Oak Mountain a 23-20 halftime lead.

Coming out of the half, the game was still tight but Reese began to take over. He scored eight third-quarter points as the Panthers pulled ahead midway through the quarter and never looked back. With 29 seconds to go in the quarter, Reese threw down a dunk to give Pelham a 37-29 lead. Stephenson again to cut the Pelham lead to 37-32 with a triple to end the quarter.

Reese and Allison traded buckets for Pelham in the fourth period as Pelham maintained a lead throughout the quarter. At the end of the game, Oak Mountain began to foul in order to stop the clock, but Allison made 9-of-10 free throws in the final minute to secure the Pelham win.

For Pelham, Reese led with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. Allison had 19 points, three assists and three rebounds and finished 10-for-11 from the free throw line. For Oak Mountain, Stephenson had 16 points and Haynes had 13 points to lead the Eagles.