After a three year absence, the 5A, Area 6 banner will find its home in the arms of the Shelby County Lady Wildcats,

after a 56-35 win over the Chelsea Hornets Monday night.

The road to the championship was not easy for either team. The Hornets found themselves in an overtime battle with Chilton County in the opening round, while the Wildcats successfully held off a surging Sylacuaga team to claim the two point win.

The Wildcats used their trademark aggressive play to break out to a comfortable 15-6 lead as the first quarter wound down. The Wildcats then orchestrated a 10-0 run in the second quarter on their way to a 29-12 halftime lead.

Despite a valiant second half effort by the Hornets, the Wildcats&8217; hot shooting and defense held on.

&8220;I thought our girls played real hard tonight,&8221; Wildcat Coach Leroy Miles said. &8220;I am proud of the girls for the way they played, which allowed us to do what we wanted to defensively.

This is something we set out to do at the first of the season and it is a great honor to be area champions.&8221;

Tournament MVP, Leah Bland, led all scorer with 19 points, while her counterpart, Jessica Pennington, added 11 points.

Stephanie Hollis had 16 points for Chelsea.

SCHS will host Wilcox-Central Thursday night for the AHSAA sub-regional, while Chelsea travels to Demopolis