Photo courtesy of Chelsea Basketball
The Chelsea High School girls basketball team is headed to the 2026 Central Regional Tournament. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Basketball.
The next step of the high school basketball playoffs has arrived.
The Briarwood girls, Chelsea girls and Spain Park boys take to the court Thursday in the opening round of the Central Regional Tournament at Alabama State University.
Briarwood (20-10) plays Valley at noon looking to continue its season. The Lady Lions are on a seven-game winning streak and coming off winning the Class 5A, Area 8 tournament, along with a sub-regional game against Demopolis.
The Lady Lions won the opening regional game last year before falling in the regional final. If Briarwood knocks off Valley, the Lady Lions will play the winner between Central-Clay County and Beauregard. The regional final will be played next Tuesday.
Chelsea (23-6) is looking to make another deep postseason push, and will take on Calera at 3 p.m. Thursday. The Lady Hornets have not lost since the calendar flipped to 2026, currently riding a 12-game winning streak. Chelsea won the area tournament and blew past Paul Bryant in the sub-regional round.
The Lady Hornets won both games in the regional tournament last year and advanced all the way to the state final. A Chelsea win will have the Lady Hornets playing either Pelham or Hueytown in the regional final next Wednesday.
Spain Park (22-11) will wrap up the day in Montgomery with a game against McAdory on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Jags finished as the runner-up in the Class 6A, Area 8 tournament, but took to the road and knocked off Paul Bryant in the sub-regional round.
The Jags are back in the regional tournament for the first time since the 2022-23 season. A Spain Park win will have the Jags facing either Pelham or Calera in the regional final next Wednesday as well.
