Preview: Pelham Panthers vs. Chilton County Tigers
Pelham is 8-0 against Chilton County since December of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Pelham Panthers will face off against the Chilton County Tigers at 12:00 p.m. Pelham is coming into the match hot, having won their last four games.
With a playoff game on the line, Pelham rose to the challenge on Friday. They blew past the Jaguars 54-27 at home. The match was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Pelham had established a 25 point advantage.
Pelham relied on the efforts of Karma Wynn, who scored 12 points along with five assists and two steals, and Tee King, who scored 19 points along with five rebounds and two steals. That makes it seven consecutive games in which King has scored at least a third of Pelham's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Shea Gallagher, who scored six points along with ten rebounds.
Meanwhile, Chilton County earned a 64-53 win over Hueytown on Friday. The win made it back-to-back wins for Chilton County.
Chilton County got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Iasia Anderson out in front who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten assists. Anderson is crushing the steal category: she's posted at least three every time she's taken the court this season. Ishunti Brown was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 17 points and 15 rebounds.
Pelham is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 20-10 record this season. As for Chilton County, they pushed their record up to 21-10 with that win, which was their third straight at home.
Thursday's match will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: King and Anderson. King has been dynamite this season: she has averaged 18.9 points, 2.6 steals, and 2.5 assists. For her part, Anderson has averaged 14.6 points, 9.2 steals, and 9 assists.
Everything went Pelham's way against Chilton County in their previous matchup back in January of 2022 as Pelham made off with a 50-25 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Pelham since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
