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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

Last season, Aiden Owens was one of five starters for the Chelsea Hornets who banded together to make an unforgettable run through the area tournament and reach their first Class 7A Sweet 16.

This season, he was the only one of those five starters to return.

As a result, he was saddled with the expectation of being one of the main players for coach Nick Baumbaugh and the Hornets in the 2024-25 season. However, he rose to those expectations and concluded a long journey to his place as not just Chelsea’s biggest star, but Shelby County’s.

Aiden Owens is the 2024-25 Shelby County Player of the Year for boys basketball after being the most impactful player during a key home stretch of the season.

Owens was a three-year starter entering the season, but in years past, he took the back seat to let the Hornets’ other big stars take control of the offense.

He patiently waited his turn for three seasons before his star turn as a senior, being one of six seniors in the Class of 2025 but the lone returning starter.

With the ball in his hands and his coach and teammates’ trust, Owens went into takeover mode and impacted the game in each contest he took the floor in.

Owens finished the season as the highest-scoring forward in all of Shelby County and the fourth-highest scorer overall with 16.5 points per game.

Those points came from all over the floor as he proved as capable of scoring from deep as he was in making tough layups and bringing the house down with rim-rattling transition dunks.

He finished the year with a 58 percent field goal percentage, the second-highest rate in the county, and shot 31 percent on 3-pointers and 76 percent from the free throw line, the third-highest percentage among county players.

However, his impact wasn’t just limited to the scoreboard. He finished the year averaging 6.7 rebounds as one of the key post presences for Chelsea as well as 3.3 assists per game.

On the defensive end, he was a force to be reckoned with, racking up 67 steals and 36 blocks over the course of the season, proving his on-ball defending was as strong as his ability to defend the rim.

As a result, he finishes his career as one of six players in school history in the 1,000-point club for his career and part of an even rarer group of players with 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.

His performances peaked at just the right time for the Hornets as he helped them overcome a slow start to the season with big performances in area play and the playoffs.

Owens scored 27 points on his senior night to clinch the regular season area title, and he got into double figures in both area games with 18 points in the semifinals against Spain Park and 13 in the area title game against Helena.

He took that momentum into the playoffs, where he led Chelsea with 14 points against Calera to reach the Sweet 16 for the second-straight season, this time in another classification.

He also stepped up when his team needed him the most. Facing the eventual state champion Paul W. Bryant in the Sweet 16, he posted one of his best performances of the season with 24 points off 8-for-12 shooting and an 8-for-9 stretch from the free throw line.

Ahead of that game against the Stampede, Baumbaugh expressed his pride for how Owens sacrificed in his early years to set up his dominance as a senior.

“I’m excited for Aiden Owens,” Baumbaugh said. “He absolutely has deserved every bit of this. He’s been a four-year starter for us and done everything that’s been asked, kind of sacrificed stats early, and now it’s his team and you see what he’s doing for us. It’s really amazing.”

Owens had some stiff competition in the Player of the Year race as Briarwood Christian’s Drew Mears similarly put his team on his back and continued his run as one of the top shooters in the region.

In addition, Dee Cutts stepped up for Montevallo in its biggest moments to help the Bulldogs make a historic run to the Elite Eight in their first year in Class 5A.

However, it was Owens’ knack for taking over games and stepping up when his team needed to the most that took him from just one of five starters to one of five on the Class 6A All-State Second Team, and in addition, that sealed his spot as Shelby County Player of the Year.