By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

TUSCALOOSA – After opening the season on Nov. 15 with a tough 37-12 loss to Vestavia, the Helena Huskies girls basketball team looked to turn things around the week of Nov. 19, by competing in the Northridge Thanksgiving Tournament.

Helena did just that by coming away with big wins over both Southside-Selma 50-47 and Paul Bryant 45-17 to go 2-0 in the tournament. Here’s a recap of how both games went down.

Helena 50 Southside-Selma 47

Helena’s first test in the Northridge Thanksgiving Tournament came against Southside-Selma on Monday, Nov. 19, as the Huskies were pushed to the brink but fought to get the tough three-point win.

Helena jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead at the end of the first quarter but Southside-Selma got things going offensively in the second period.

In the second quarter, Helena was outscored 17-12 as Southside-Selma cut the Huskies lead to 21-19 at the half.

In the second half, Helena’s Julia Hensley came alive offensively to give the Huskies a spark. She finished with nine points including two three-pointers as all of her points came in the second half of the game.

Another key for Helena in the win was the play of Autumn Edmonds. She led the Huskies with 11 points to finish as Helena’s leading scorer.

Helena 45 Paul Bryant 17

In day two of the tournament, Helena went on to win by its largest margin of victory in the young season with a 28-point rout of Paul Bryant.

Helena was well balanced in scoring across the board as the Huskies had five players finish with at least six points in the game.

Kya Gardner and Chloe Van Kovering both finished with six points, Edmonds added seven points, Hensley had eight points and Montana Harris finished as the game’s leading scorer with 12 points.

Helena’s defense also came up big as the Stampede scored just seven points in the opening quarter and were held scoreless in the third quarter.

“Our mindset was to continue to improve from game one to games two and three,” Helena head coach Alan Skinner said of his team’s play in the tournament. “We have plenty of things to work on but played two teams that challenged us in those areas. Two wins going into Thanksgiving over athletic, aggressive, physical teams is a major plus as we come back from Thanksgiving.”

After a home game against Chilton County on Nov. 27, Helena will travel to McAdory to face the Yellow Jackets on Nov. 29.