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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The first basketball media rankings were released on Wednesday, Dec. 13, and the Chelsea Hornets, Thompson Warriors, Helena Huskies and Montevallo Bulldogs were all recognized for their early season success.

Chelsea’s girls basketball team was ranked No. 3 in Class 7A rankings. The Hornets are 14-0 and the only undefeated team in the county. They are coming off a road win over 12-3 Northridge on the road to continue their win streak.

Chelsea will face Mountain Brook on Friday, Dec. 15 before wrapping up the 2023 portion of their schedule at the Oak Mountain Christmas Classic from Dec. 18-20 and facing Cullman, Oxford and Daphne.

Thompson’s boys basketball team checked in at No. 6 in the Class 7A poll after a 9-2 start to the season. The Warriors beat Parker early in the season and have wins over county foes Spain Park and Chelsea.

Since the poll released, the Warriors improved to 10-2 with a 69-47 win over Helena. They will now face Oak Mountain on Dec. 15, Pinson Valley on Dec. 18 and Central-Phenix City on Dec. 22 before traveling to Panama City Beach, Florida for the Marlin Invitational on Dec. 28-30.

Helena’s boys basketball team earned the No. 6 spot in the Class 6A rankings thanks to their 10-1 start, including wins over McAdory and 7A county foes Chelsea, Spain Park and Oak Mountain.

While the Huskies dropped to 10-2 after losing to Thompson, they will travel to Bibb County on Dec. 15 before hosting the Husky Holiday Tournament from Dec. 18-20 and their trip to the Ft. Walton Beach Tournament from Dec. 27-29.

In Class 4A, Montevallo’s boys basketball team earned the No. 8 ranking. The Bulldogs are 8-3 to start the season thanks to wins over Calera, Shelby County and Tarrant.

Montevallo will go to Bibb County on Dec. 19 for a road game before playing in the Brookwood Tournament on Dec. 28-29.

In addition to the media rankings, the coaches poll was released on Tuesday, Dec. 12. Chelsea’s girls basketball team and Thompson’s boys basketball team were each ranked No. 5 of their respective Class 7A poll and Helena came in at No. 7 in the Class 6A poll.

In a pair of differences from the media poll, Montevallo’s boys basketball team was unranked in Class 4A and Indian Springs’ boys basketball team was ranked No. 9 in the Class 3A poll. Springs was among the county teams nominated for the media poll but was unranked.