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The Chelsea Hornets made history with their first state championship appearance as their lockdown defensive start paved the way for a commanding Final Four win over Mountain Brook in a full-circle moment for the team. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM – The last time the Chelsea Hornets and Mountain Brook Spartans met on a basketball court, it was Dec. 9, 2024 when the teams were locked in a tight battle down the stretch.

A defensive miscommunication left Mountain Brook wide open for a go-ahead corner 3-pointer. After that, Olivia Pryor could only make one of her two free throws to cut the deficit to two, and with a chance to tie off a Spartans turnover, Caroline Brown and Haley Trotter both missed point-blank shots.

After the game, Chelsea coach Jason Harlow had a feeling that the two teams would match up down the road in the Class 6A Final Four at Legacy Arena at the BJCC. He also had a feeling that loss would help prepare them for that possible rematch.

“We walked off the court at Spartan Arena, and we lost a tough one and played with a shot clock, and I looked at my assistant coach, Mike Schwallie, and I said, ‘You know what, Mike, that might end up being one of the best things to happen to us,” Harlow said.

He may have been right.

That game proved to be a turning point, as since then, Chelsea has gone 20-4 and entered the Final Four on a 13-game win streak while playing some of its best basketball.

Everything that went wrong on a cold December night in Mountain Brook went right for the Hornets on Wednesday, Feb. 26: their defense barely missed a possession, their offense hit shots left and right and everything came full circle in the rematch with Mountain Brook.

As a result, Chelsea beat the Spartans 56-28 to do what no Hornets team has done before: advance to the state championship on Saturday, March 1 at 12:30 p.m. against Park Crossing.

“We’re thrilled that there’s two 6A teams that get a play a game in March and we’re one of them,” Harlow said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these girls next to me and those in the locker room.”

Chelsea’s defense stifled and frustrated Mountain Brook from the opening whistle, forcing a litany of steals and traveling calls while strongly contesting most of the shots.

The Hornets took advantage of the opportunity to score the first seven points of the game, including five from Haley Trotter and an Olivia Pryor transition layup off a Caroline Brown steal.

The Spartans scored quickly after taking a timeout with 4:19 left in the quarter as a defensive breakdown in the paint led to a midrange shot. However, that was the lone basket that Mountain Brook scored in the first quarter as the Hornets ended the first on an 8-0 run.

Trotter continued to dominate as she got nine points before the end of the first quarter while Brown and Pryor continued their strong connection to take a 15-2 lead into the second quarter.

The second eight minutes were a much different story as Chelsea’s offense started to dry up. It took 3:17 of the second quarter for Pryor to kick off the scoring for the Hornets.

It wouldn’t matter much though as Chelsea continued to defend well. The Spartans scored just four points in the entire second quarter as the Hornets forced 12 turnovers in the first half and limited Mountain Brook to 3-for-13 shooting.

Chelsea began finding its groove in the final minute-and-a-half of the half thanks to a pair of Brown baskets and two Kamryn Hudson free throws, which increased the halftime lead to 23-6.

After the game, Harlow said that he believed the game would come down to defense and that his team executed its game plan as strongly as it could have.

“The defense was outstanding,” Harlow said. “I think Mountain Brook’s one of the more explosive offensive teams in the state, but we had a conversation and we said whoever’s going to play on Saturday, is going to be the best defensive team, and I felt like our girls guarded at a really high level. We guarded the 3-point arc against Mountain Brook because they’re such an unselfish team. They make extra passes, they can all shoot. It was one of our best defensive performances. That’s something we’ve hung our hat on all year long. That’s who we are.”

The Spartans began scoring more in the third quarter as they got a pair of baskets in the opening two minutes. However, the Hornets had a response for each basket, including a Brown and-1 to take the lead to 30-10 with 5:18 left in the third.

Mountain Brook then hit a 3-pointer on the other end of the floor to kick off a short 5-0 over the next two minutes. Chelsea ended the quarter strong with a 3-pointer from Trotter to get her into double figures and Hudson’s first field goal of the day.

Most importantly though, the Hornets kept the Spartans scoreless for the final 4:20 of the third as they led 35-15 going into the fourth quarter.

Chelsea kept its foot on the gas in the early stretch of the fourth as Brown made a pair of layups in the opening 50 seconds to make it a 24-point lead. Mountain Brook responded with two field goals, but Schwallie and Pryor went to work inside the paint to continue increasing the lead.

From there, the Hornets knocked down free throws and layups in the final minutes to put the finishing touches on the 29-point win and their strong individual performances.

Brown led the team with 18 points, three assists and three steals, Pryor finished with 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds and Trotter joined them in double figures with 14 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Schwallie had five points and four steals and Juliann Bass secured five assists.

Each of those players’ efforts proved crucial in helping the Hornets make school history as the first girls basketball team to earn its first map trophy.

The thought of playing for a state title made Harlow tear up in the postgame press conference. He reflected on the many players he coached in the past who didn’t get this opportunity, and he vowed to play for them and the entire city of Chelsea on Saturday.

“It means so much,” Harlow said of reaching the title game. “It means a lot for the community, it means a lot for the high school. Makes me think a lot about some of the kids that have worn that uniform. It means we’re going to do our best to represent our community and in our program the best way possible. We feel thrilled that we had that situation, but we know we have a foundation that was built that we’ve added to, and so that’ll be in our hearts on Saturday for sure.”

As for what the biggest difference was between those past teams and this team, Harlow believes it is their high character. He said that translates into everything they do from how hard they play to their chemistry on and off the court.

Those traits make him grateful that he gets to coach this group one last time with everything on the line.

“I’m going on 20 years coaching in some capacity, and this was one of the most competitive teams that I’ve had, and that’s something we try to instill into the kids, when we start practice, when we start tryouts, everything we do, we keep the score on,” Harlow said. “We’re just a bunch of Chelsea kids, but you have to instill competitiveness in them and I’ve had to do that with all my teams in the past. It just comes naturally with this group and I think they enjoy one another, too. They really love one another and it shows on the court.

“They’re just a special group of kids and I’m thrilled that I get to coach them one more game.”

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