By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The Helena boys’ basketball team has been playing their best basketball as of late, and on Tuesday, Jan. 26, the Huskies were going for their 13^th win in a row against the Thompson Warriors.

The first quarter was filled with back-and-forth exciting plays by both sides. Helena started the game with back-to-back steals and dunks by both Jon Brown and Paul Brown to take an early 4-0 lead. The Warriors would counter with two made three-pointers by Jaylin Wilson and Drew Thomas.

Helena was poised to take an 18-11 lead going into the second quarter, but Thomas drained a half court shot at the buzzer to make it 18-14.

The Huskies were not phased by the shift in momentum and countered by playing their best defense of the night in the second quarter.

The Huskies held Thompson to just three total points in the second quarter and extended their lead to 30-18 at halftime.

“I think we held them to three points in the second and I thought we started defending a lot better,” said Helena head coach Chris Laatsch. “I think we finally got into a groove defensively of what they were trying to attack us with and then made adjustments. They have a great ball club and so many good shooters but I thought our kids adjusted well.”

Helena wouldn’t let up in the second half and were able to bleed time off the clock to preserve a 50-39 victory to defeat Thompson for the second time in three tries this season.

Helena’s Jon Brown led all scorers with 22 points while Michael Freeman finished with 20 points for the Warriors.

Last week, Helena entered the ASWA poll ranked No. 8 and will likely climb in the poll once the newest rankings are released.

“When we schedule we try to get things that would prepare you and coach Love and coach Davis both do a great job,” Laatsch said when asked why it helps playing teams in a larger class. “I think it’s going to prepare us for the playoffs and that’s the goal.”