Photo courtesy of Chelsea Basketball
Chelsea High School's girls basketball team won the Class 6A Central Regional on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Montgomery. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Basketball.
The Chelsea High School girls basketball team is headed to the state final four for the third time in program history after winning the Class 6A Central Regional.
The Lady Hornets won the regional final Wednesday afternoon with a 48-37 win over Pelham at Alabama State University in Montgomery.
Chelsea led for the majority of the game, particularly in the final three quarters. The Lady Hornets beat Pelham three previous times during the season, with the two being area foes as well. Chelsea won all three games by an average of 22 points, so Wednesday's effort was Pelham's best against Chelsea all season.
Chelsea held a 13-9 lead after a quarter of play and was up 22-20 at halftime. The Lady Hornets took a four-point lead into the final quarter, and they smothered Pelham, allowing just seven points in the fourth.
Olivia Pryor and Caroline Brown each posted double-doubles for Chelsea. Pryor finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Brown finished the game with 11 points and 10 boards of her own. Lemmie Floyd had nine points, Gabby Garcia posted eight points and six assists, and Juliann Bass had six points.
Chelsea, last year's state runner-up, is headed back to Birmingham under first-year coach Denton Johnson. The Lady Hornets will now prepare to face Hazel Green at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the BJCC's Legacy Arena in the 6A semifinals.
Jags fall in regional final
Spain Park's stellar season came to a close Wednesday afternoon in the Class 6A Central Regional final in a 56-50 loss to Calera.
The Jags were never far behind in the contest, but Calera led for most of the way. The Eagles held a narrow 13-11 after a quarter of play, and stretched that to a 25-20 lead at the halftime break.
The Eagles then pushed it to 39-31 after three quarters and the Jags fought back in the final quarter, but could never quite get over the hump.
Josh Wilkerson led the Jags with 12 points in the game, adding five rebounds. Tommy Morrison added nine points and six rebounds, with Harrison Stewart also contributing nine points. Andy McQueeney had seven points and Cooper Gann tallied six points.
After two years of not making it past the area tournament, Spain Park had a strong season, going 23-12 and winning sub-regional and regional semifinal games.
