1 of 10

Chelsea is heading to regionals for the seventh-straight season after a dominant second-quarter run ended Calera’s bounce-back season. (For the Reporter/Robert Dean)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – Early on in a rare sub-regional county battle, it looked like the Calera Eagles would have the firepower on both sides of the ball to take the fight to the Chelsea Hornets.

However, like so many games throughout the season, the Hornets adjusted and hit their stride, and like the past six years before this one, they will now take the stage at regionals.

Chelsea defeated Calera 57-34 on Friday, Feb. 7 at Chelsea High School in the Class 6A sub-regionals, sending off the Hornets seniors Haley Trotter, Sadie Schwallie, Sydney Carroll and Allie Scott with not just a win in their final home game but another ticket to the Sweet 16.

“It feels great for the seniors and it feels great for the kids because it’s a long process,” Chelsea coach Jason Harlow said. “I think we’ve been really, really fortunate within the program to have a lot of good players over the last few years. This is our seventh year getting to go back in a row, and it’s a testament to the types of kids that we’ve had in the program.”

Trotter and Schwallie each finished with 16 points while Trotter added four rebounds and three steals and Schwallie hit four 3-pointers. Caroline Brown joined them in double figures with 13 points and four rebounds, Kamryn Hudson scored six points and Olivia Pryor had four points, three rebounds and two steals in a big defensive performance.

Chelsea started out the game dominantly as a pair of Trotter baskets and a Brown 3-pointer put the Hornets up 7-0 just 1:23 into the first.

However, that lead quickly evaporated as Calera’s Jakalynn Johnson and Maddie Green knocked down long range shots to cap off an 8-0 run that gave the Eagles an 8-7 lead just past the midway point in the opening quarter.

Chelsea got a response from deep from Brown to swing the lead back in its favor, and the Hornets pulled away from there.

Trotter got three baskets down the stretch to get her into double figures in the first quarter, and Pryor hit a big 3-pointer during the run as well as Chelsea ended the first quarter with a 22-12 lead.

That advantage quickly grew as the Hornets defense continued to frustrate Calera. Chelsea repeatedly forced mistakes to swing any momentum back in its favor.

Schwallie caught fire for one of her best shooting performances of the season, knocking down a trio of unanswered 3-pointers to take the lead to 31-13.

Those baskets were part of a 22-0 run from the Hornets. Trotter and Brown chipped in field goals while Schwallie and Hudson forced steals in the backcourt that led to transition layups.

The Eagles finally broke the run with just under a minute remaining in the half, but the damage was done and Chelsea went into halftime up 44-15.

After the game, Harlow said that the run came from the building defensive pressure that eventually broke Calera and led to points off turnovers.

“I think the style that we play defensively can force another team to hit a wall at some point and at the end of a half, sometimes we see that, but it was just the same thing it’s been all year–defense, leading to offense, gave us an opportunity to get out in transition,” Harlow said. “They’ve got a couple good big players with their back to the basket, so we wanted to exploit that in transition, and Haley and Caroline got out and ran a little bit, Sadie Schwallie knocked down some big shots for us, so it kind of snowballed on them there in the second quarter.”

The snowball stopped rolling in the third but not before the Hornets grew the lead to 44 in the opening two minutes of the quarter thanks to a basket from Trotter and another Schwallie 3-pointer.

Calera started to get more points on the board as the quarter went on, but Hudson, Brown and Trotter capped off their scoring nights in the final minutes of the third. Chelsea led 57-21 before the Eagles closed the gap on the free throw line to 57-24 at the end of the quarter.

The Hornets put in their backups to start the fourth quarter, and that gave Calera the chance to cut into the deficit in the final eight minutes. Including the three free throws to close the third, the Eagles finished the game on an 11-0 run highlighted by a pair of Green 3-pointers.

While Chelsea didn’t score in the fourth quarter, it still walked away with a 23-point win to reach the Sweet 16 on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. at Alabama State University in Montgomery against the Hueytown Golden Gophers.

Harlow knows how important it is for his team to stay the course and remain strong defensively without playing into the hands of their opponents. The Hornets have been battle-tested against top teams like Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa and Hoover, and he believes that experience led to a lot of positive lessons that they can use in Montgomery.

“We played the top four teams in Class Seven and played a lot of good teams in the first part of the year, and we learned that when we compete and we play really hard on both sides of the floor, we feel like we can compete with anybody,” Harlow said. “There’s no one that’s playing right now that can’t beat us if we become that team. So, that’s something we talked about in the locker room and just keep guarding at a high level, keep taking care of the basketball, and we’ll put ourselves in a good spot.”

As for Calera, its season ends with a 17-13 record just one season after going just 6-25, showcasing the continued turnaround under head coach Tanjanik Munford as the Eagles faced off against the No. 6 team in all of Class 6A.

Green led Calera with 14 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while Kora Johnson scored seven points and Jakaylyn Johnson finished with four points.

More Sports

Nothing but net: 2025 All-County girls basketball teams spotlight area’s best

Trot to the top: Chelsea’s Haley Trotter repeats as Shelby County Player of the Year

Face of the city: Chelsea’s Jason Harlow wins second-straight Shelby County Coach of the Year award

Thompson earns dominant road victories at area foe Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa