By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Chelsea Hornets showed up ready to take on the first area challenge of the 2018 girls basketball season, as they traveled to take on the Pelham Panthers on Tuesday, Jan. 8, and came away with a strong 48-34 victory.

A big reason for that impressive performance was Chelsea’s activity on the defensive end of the floor, which caused problems for Pelham (6-10, 0-1) all night by disrupting passing lanes and hounding every ball handler.

After trading baskets through the first two minutes of the opening quarter, including a 3-pointer from each team, the rest of the period became about turnovers.

The Hornets’ defense really turned up the pressure over the final five minutes of the frame getting to the ball quickly, being very active with their hands and also being aggressive in the post.

It led to several turnovers in a row for the Panthers, which allowed Chelsea (7-10, 1-0) to go on a 6-0 run to end the period and take an 11-5 lead into the second quarter.

Pelham’s struggle to find any open shots continued early in the quarter with Chelsea’s continued hounding defense, which allowed the Hornets to stretch that 6-0 run to a 10- run and grab a 15-5 advantage.

The Panthers eventually ended their long scoring drought on a layup in the post by Emma McKenney, but that was answered quickly by another 7-2 run from the Hornets to eventually take a 22-9 lead.

The Hornets held that 13-point advantage for a while, but Pelham grabbed a slight bit of momentum heading into the locker room when they cut the deficit to 10 at 25-15 heading into the break.

In the third quarter, however, Chelsea’s Jordan Parker and Sydney Schwallie were able to help the Hornets extend their lead.

Another strong defensive quarter held Pelham to just six points in the period, while Parker and Schwallie combined for all 11 Chelsea points in the period to help extend the Hornets’ lead to 14 points at 35-21 heading to the final frame.

The Panthers didn’t roll over early in the period and was actually able to start the quarter on a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 10 points again at 35-25 and were able to keep within reach over the next couple of minutes, but Chelsea’s effort on the night just became too much late in the fourth.

A big reason for that was strong free throw shooting throughout but specifically in the final period. The Hornets were able to hit 11 of their 13 in the fourth to end the game on a 13-9 run to win by the final score of 48-34.

For the game, Chelsea went 25-32 at the free throw line. The Hornets were led in scoring by Jordan Parker with 23 points, while Schwallie added 10.

Pelham was led by nine points from Maggie Walsh.