By TREY HICKMAN/For the Reporter

CALERA — Calera’s Kalen Starks shined brightly on “Senior Night” as the host Eagles handily dispatched Chilton County 60-31 in varsity girls basketball Feb. 4.

During an evening honoring her class, Starks went on a tear in the opening quarter, scoring 16 points — including the game’s first seven — as Calera built a robust 23-1 lead. She finished with a game-high 19 points while grabbing seven rebounds, snagging three steals and recording a blocked shot.

“She here the last I’d say five or six or seven games has really started to come alive,” said Calera head coach James Knowles. “She’s well from her (injured) ankle now and she understands what we’re trying to do. She’s a great girl (and) she’s very smart. She made a 25 on her ACT so she’s a thinker, too.”

Behind Keona Dejarnett’s four points, the Tigers raised their play in the second period, though the half ended with Calera on top by 22 thanks in part to five points from Tyesha Haynes.

Starks tallied her remaining three points in the third quarter as the Eagles stretched their lead to 29. The Tigers’ Gabriel Kelley collected five of her team-high 10 points in the fourth quarter to help Chilton County play the Eagles to a tie in that final period, though Calera ultimately took the one-sided win.

“Positives (are my) girls kept fighting and they played hard the entire time,” Chilton County head coach Cain Young said. “We talked (at) halftime (about) trying to do some things on offense and they scored a lot more points (overall) than they had last time against (this) team.”

Calera’s Haynes complemented Starks’ performance with 13 points and four rebounds. Breonna Caldwell followed with nine points while Keyanna Gayden recorded five points and five rebounds.

A’kia Harris had five points of her own in the Eagles’ win.

For Chilton County, Kelley collected 10 points as Dejarnett scored nine and Kaley Lucas had five.