Hornets’ Michaella Edwards’ great season lands her all-state honors

Chelsea High School girls basketball is relevant again, as evidenced by the Hornets’ playoff appearance and near-upset of Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa in the Class 6A sub-regional round.

With first-year coach Lori Weber at the helm, the Hornets put together a strong season, led offensively by Michaella Edwards, whose performance netted her a second-team all-state selection from the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

“I was humbled to be selected to the all-state team,” Edwards said. “I am honored to be in the company of many great players in 6A, but I could not have been there without the support of my teammates, coaches and community.”

Despite just being a sophomore, Edwards was a force night in and night out as she averaged 29 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Even with those eye-popping numbers, she feels there is still quite a bit of room for improvement.

“I feel like I have grown as a player, but I still have so much to learn about the mental side of the game,” she said. “I want my team to know that they can rely on me in tough situations on and off the court.”

Having success from the get-go — as the Hornets won their first five games of the season — propelled Edwards and the team to a big season, one that Edwards said is motivation moving forward.

“The season was so much fun this year,” she said. “Our team saw that we could succeed, which lit a fire in us that we had not had before. It became more than just competing; we wanted to win.”

Edwards has several lofty individual goals she wants to achieve next season, including shooting 90 percent or higher from the free throw line. For her team, she hopes the expectations have been raised.

“On our schedule, there were many games last year that we should have won,” she said. “I think we are ready to be more consistent with that. Also, I want us to set a team goal to get a little better each day. I love my teammates, and we can do it together.”