By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

ALABASTER–The Helena Huskies boys basketball team needed to limit the Thompson Warriors hot shooting from the outside if they stood a chance to win on the road, and that’s just what happened.

The Huskies used stifling defense, caused numerous deflections and were active all night on the defensive side of the ball to cruise to a 62-34 victory on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Thompson High School.

Helena head coach Chris Laatsch was pleased with his team’s effort defensively and knew it was a major key in the win.

“I thought we defended tremendously and we switched up playing three different defenses tonight trying to switch them up and keep them off balance,” said Laatsch. “I thought our kids were all on the same page, moving in unison and we got a lot of deflections which led to steals which led to easy baskets. Thompson usually really hurts us with their 3-point shooting and we tried really hard in our zone to get out on the shooters.”

Helena began pulling away in the second quarter as the Huskies finished the second quarter on a 13-3 run to take a 28-18 lead going into halftime.

Jon Brown led Helena offensively with 15 points while Justin Stuckey and Landon Genry each added 12 points in a balanced attack that saw numerous baskets from both inside and outside the arch.

“I thought early in the year some of our losses was because the ball kept sticking in people’s hands and they’re trying to do it all with the ball rather than allowing the offense to look for teammates,” said Laatsch. “We’re getting a lot better at moving the ball and making the extra pass.”

Helena’s best quarter came in the final eight minutes, as the Huskies outscored the Warriors 19-6 to give Helena a 62-34 victory.

“Winning against them on their own home floor is a real big deal for us and hopefully it will give our guys confidence to keep buying into what we’re doing and we’ll try and string a few more together,” said Laatsch after the game.

Helena improved to 4-6 on the season and will try to grab an area victory on Dec. 11 as the Huskies travel to take on Jemison.