By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–Led behind Pelham junior sensation Alex Reese’s 29 points and 14 rebounds, the Pelham Panthers defeated the Helena Huskies 54-40 in the two teams’ first-ever meeting on the hardwood.

Helena had a tough night shooting the ball and despite scoring just 40 points, Helena hung in for most of the game.

“I thought that they defended really well which led to us not shooting the ball well,” said Helena head coach Chris Laatsch. “I was shocked that we didn’t shoot it better and I know we have a good shooting team. We just didn’t make shots tonight and missed a lot of threes and free throws, which is uncharacteristic, but give them a lot of credit for their preparation.”

After jumping out to an 11-7 first quarter lead, the Panthers kept the momentum going well into the second quarter leading 18-11 after a Reese slam dunk.

Helena would not go away, however, as the Huskies went on an 8-0 run near the end of the half to trail by just two at halftime, 23-21.

Pelham would stretch its lead further in the second half, outscoring Helena 18-8 in the third quarter with Reese scoring 10 of the 18 points to put the Panthers up 41-29 entering the final quarter.

Helena’s cold shooting continued into the fourth quarter and the Huskies could not overcome the deficit, losing the game 54-40.

Paul Brown finished with 11 points and Jaylen Harris finished with 10 points for the Huskies in a losing effort.

Pelham’s Justin Allison also added 13 points and after the game, Pelham head coach Joel Floyd was excited that the two teams finally got to play each other.

“It was the first time Helena and Pelham played each other in basketball and this was a lot of fun to be apart of,” said Floyd. “It was a great atmosphere and both student sections came ready to go and both teams were ready to go and I was proud of the way our guys battled tonight.”

Pelham moved their record to 3-0 on the season as Helena dropped to 0-1.