Photo by Kamp Fender.
Pressley Rains (3) is one of five seniors for a Lady Hornets squad with high expectations this season.
Not many expected to see the Chelsea High School girls basketball team achieve the amount of success the Lady Hornets did during the 2018-19 season.
After the departure of their leading scorer and introduction of new coach Jason Harlow, it was assumed much of the season would be built laying the foundation.
The Lady Hornets had other plans, however.
Starting with Chelsea’s final game in Spain Park’s tournament, the Lady Hornets ripped off eight consecutive wins, including six straight in Class 6A, Area 8 play to win the area. A major reason for that run was the play of Jordan Parker, who averaged 16 points and 13 rebounds per game during those six area games.
But Parker was injured in the final week of the regular season and would miss the remainder of the campaign. The Lady Hornets lost their final two regular season contests, but rallied to win the Area 8 tournament and a sub-regional game to advance to the regional tournament.
In Parker’s absence, several other players stepped up, including Pressley Rains, Mackenzie Titus, Sydney Schwallie, Ellen Fleming and Suzanne Ridgway.
As for this season, Parker is back at full health, and all of the aforementioned are back as well.
“We have potential to continue to take steps in the direction we want to go, but we can’t lose sight of why we made some progress and that’s because we had some really hard-working, dedicated kids, so I’m fortunate in that area,” said Harlow, who is entering his second season as head coach.
Chelsea has nine of its top players from last year back, so there is no reason to believe the Lady Hornets won’t be able to continue their ascension.
“Depth is a big key to our success,” Harlow said. “We know teams are going to focus in on trying to stop Jordan and Pressley, but we also feel we’ve got another three or four kids capable of picking up the (scoring) slack on a given night.”
Parker and Rains were both double-digit scorers a year ago and made the Starnes Publishing All-South Metro team. Rains and Parker are both versatile and capable of playing multiple positions. Parker is a mismatch and Rains is an instinctive player, according to Harlow.
Schwallie and Fleming averaged seven and six points per game last year, respectively, and will share ball-handling duties. Ridgway and Titus will also continue to contribute in a big way on both sides of the floor.
The Lady Hornets have five seniors, with Callie Smith and Emily Lamberson entering their final seasons with Parker, Rains and Ridgway. Smith and Lamberson are guards that are top-notch defenders, Harlow said.
Fleming, Titus, Katie Goss and Mary Henley Carney are the juniors. Carney transferred from Texas and can shoot the ball from the perimeter. Schwallie is joined by Nia Cummings in the 10th-grade class. Sophia Brown is a freshman expected to contribute as well.
Harlow mentioned Ashley Washington, Claire Neuberger, Halle Eidson and Jayden Buff as junior varsity players that could help out during the course of the year.
Chelsea plays plenty of quality opposition during the first half of the season, before jumping into area play against Pelham, Calera and Helena in January. During December, the Lady Hornets will face the likes of Oak Mountain, Homewood, Thompson and others.
