Home court advantage proved not much help to the Jemison boys and girls basketball teams on Jan. 15, as both squads fell to the Helena Huskies at Alton Cobb Gymnasium.

The girls contest started off as a close battle, as a two-point shot by India Satterfield gave the Panthers a 30-28 lead with under six minutes to play in the third period.

A three-pointer by Helena’s Jordan Jones with 4:50 left in the period put the Huskies up 31-30, with a free throw by Jemison’s Laura Vinzant pulling the score even at 31-31.

A basket by Aszah Preue put the Huskies up by two, but a Satterfield two-pointer tied the game with 2:10 left in the third.

Helena ended the quarter on a basket by Brianna Sturdivant to take a 35-33 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter of play, the Huskies got off to a hot start, going on an 8-2 run courtesy of Jennifer Brown, Jones and Preue to extend the lead to 43-35.

A Panther basket by Karmen Mims ended the run, and baskets by Brown and Jones were answered by two sets of free throws by Vinzant to pull the Panthers to within six points, at 47-41.

A three-pointer by Mekhi Mayfield opened up a nine-point lead for the Huskies, while a basket by Averie Porter and a free throw by Satterfield closed the gap to 50-44.

An 8-2 run followed, with the lone Jemison basket provided by Vinzant, and the Huskies took home a 58-46 win.
Satterfield finished with 18 points, while Vinzant had 13.

The Jemison boys squad fared no better, as a strong start ended coming up short, as the Panthers fell, 55-45.

After the Huskies opened with a basket, the Panthers’ offense roared to life. Cody Thompson dropped a two-pointer, adding a subsequent free throw. Mason Jones knocked down a three-pointer, with Thompson and Tremon Bryant adding baskets to open a 10-4 lead.

After a Helena basket by Casey Pierce, Jones hit another three-pointer to extend the lead to 11 points at 13-4.

Helena took control of the momentum with an 11-0 run, including a slam dunk by Jon Brown and capped off by a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Brown to end the first half tied, 13-13.

Another Husky three-pointer extended the lead to 16-13, with Bryant trimming the lead to one point on a basket.

A Thompson free throw tied the contest with 5:54 to go in the half, with the two squads battling back and forth to a 20-20 tie on a pair free throws by Shun Strong.

A 4-0 run by Helena followed, and the Huskies swung momentum in their favor on another buzzer-beating three-pointer, this time by Justin Stuckey, ending the first half with the Huskies up, 27-20.

A 3-0 run by Jemison started the third quarter, but the Huskies countered with a 14-0 run to take a 37-23 lead.
Another Stuckey three-pointer opened up a 40-25 Husky lead, but Jemison countered with a 6-2 run courtesy of Shawn Poe, Jones, Strong and Thompson to close the gap to 42-31.

The highlight of the game came as the Huskies dropped their third buzzer-beating three point of the game, this time when Brown shot the ball from three-quarters down the court, banking off the glass and into the bucket to the eruption of the visiting crowd.
The fourth quarter opened with a 6-5 Helena run, giving the Huskies a 51-36 lead, but Jemison began to whittle away at the deficit.

A three-pointer by Jones cut the lead to 51-39, and baskets by Wesley McGehee and
Thompson gave the Panthers new life, down by eight points with 54 seconds to go.

Thompson sank two free throws to cut the lead to 53-45 with 26 seconds left, but it was all the Panthers could muster as Helena took the 55-45 win.

Thompson posted 22 points, while Jones contributed 11.