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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers are back above .500 with a 7-6 record, but it didn’t come easily as they faced a tough test at home from the Mountain Brook Spartans.

In the end, Pelham got revenge for a 57-37 loss in the Turkey Tipoff to win 53-45 on Thursday, Dec. 12 at Pelham High School.

The Panthers offense got going early as Tee King scored six points in the opening quarter and Taylor Hollingsworth hit a pair of shots from the field to score five points.

The two combined for 11 of Pelham’s 13 points in the first quarter, outpacing Mountain Brook to take a 13-8 lead into the second quarter.

The Panthers defense locked down even more and surrendered just four points in the second, giving Pelham a chance to increase the lead on the other end of the court.

While neither Hollingsworth nor King found the bottom of the net in the second quarter, Ally Barfield made up the difference, scoring seven points to take the Panthers’ halftime advantage to 22-12.

Pelham’s offense then erupted in the third quarter, getting seven points from Hollingsworth, six points from Hannah Bankston and four points from King to take all three players into double figures.

The trio accounted for 18 of the Panthers’ 19 third-quarter points, which countered an offensive resurgence from the Spartans, who scored 12 points in the third.

Pelham held a 41-24 lead going into the fourth quarter, but that commanding lead would not be that big for long.

Led by a massive 13-point quarter from Libby Greisler, Mountain Brook scored 21 points in the fourth, including an 8-for-8 stretch from the free throw line as a team, to make sure that the visitors would not go down without a fight.

However, King and Bankston withstood the Spartans’ final stand as Bankston scored six points from the field and King went 4-for-4 from the foul stripe to help Pelham hang on for the win.

Bankston led the Panthers with 17 points and four rebounds. King finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and earning 10 assists to go with three steals. Hollingsworth dropped 14 points and three rebounds and Barfield scored eight points in the win.

Pelham will have a quick turnaround as it will face the Clay-Chalkville Cougars on Friday, Dec. 13 at 4:30 p.m.