Helena downs rival Pelham for sub-regional berth
Published 9:56 am Tuesday, February 4, 2025
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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher
CHELSEA – Trailing by one point following the first shot of the final quarter, the Helena Huskies faced their first deficit since the opening quarter of a must-win game with rival Pelham on Monday, Feb. 3 in the opening round of the area tournament, but they didn’t shy away from the adversity.
Helena quickly regained the lead with two free throws, and while they fell behind 50-48 shortly after in a back-and-forth spurt, it was a 6-0 run after that they made the difference.
The Huskies were able to take back a 54-50 advantage with great play from Kevin Pinkard and Joe King, who traded assists to one another for the six combined points in that stretch.
Pelham did draw within one point again at 56-55, but three free throws in a row made it a four-point game in the final seconds.
Helena finished off the game with two final free throws from Denton McDonald to cap a 61-56 victory that kept the season alive and helped the Huskies advance to the area championship game and sub-regionals.
Early in the game, it was the Panthers who were able to gain the early lead in the opening quarter with Egyt Daniel knocking down a couple of 3-pointers and a balanced effort behind that.
With that effort, Pelham jumped out to a 14-12 lead late in the opening quarter, but the Huskies got going from there, finishing the quarter on a 6-0 run that put them in front by four heading to the second quarter.
A back-and-forth game ensued from there with neither team leading by more than five in the game.
That was on display as the two teams traded three 3-pointers to start the second quarter.
That was followed by Helena taking three-point leads, only to be answered by big baskets from Pelham, leading to a tight 32-31 game at the halftime break.
That excitement carried into the second half with Helena taking a 44-38, but the Panthers pulling back within two at the end of the quarter with a steal and fast-break layup to trim the deficit to 44-42 heading to the final quarter.
Pelham then took the lead on the first made basket of the final quarter when Kendall Smith hit a 3-pointer.
The two teams traded points from there before Pelham took a 50-48 advantage with an and-1 from Jayden Robinson.
Momentum seemed to be flipping in favor of the Panthers at that point, but King and Pinkard stepped up to flip it back.
The first big play came on a full-court pass from King to Pinkard for a layup on the ensuing play, while Pinkard then followed with two free throws to capitalize on a Pelham turnover.
Now up 52-50, Pinkard was able to find King on a beautiful backdoor cut that put the Huskies in front 54-50.
Pelham did answer with a huge 3-pointer, but the Panthers just couldn’t quite get over the hump from there, pulling to within one point two more times before the Huskies put the game away in the final 21 seconds at the free throw line.
King and Nate Ferguson each finished with 13 points in the win, while Pinkard added 11 for three double-figure scorers. The Huskies also got eight from McDonald, six from Drew Davis and five from Torrey Ward.
Pelham got 10 points each from Daniel and Smith in the loss, while nine total players scored in a balanced effort.
Helena will now take on Chelsea tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at Chelsea for the area tournament title and will play in sub-regionals this weekend.