Chelsea picks up road wins at Thompson, Pelham to improve to 13-0

Published 7:59 pm Saturday, December 9, 2023

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Chelsea Hornets continued their perfect start to the season with a 48-46 win on the road against the Thompson Warriors on Friday, Dec. 8 just one night after traveling to Pelham and beating the Panthers 35-26 on Thursday, Dec. 7.

Chelsea opened up their matchup with the Warriors firing on all cylinders. Sadie Schwallie hit a trio of three-pointers for nine points in the first quarter, while Thompson was limited to nine points as a team, in part because of three blocks from Haley Trotter.

Overall, the Chelsea dropped 16 points in the first eight minutes to grab a seven-point lead.

The second quarter was a tighter affair, but the Hornets had the one-point edge thanks to five points from Caroline Brown.

That helped Chelsea outscore Thompson 12-11 in the second quarter and extend the lead to eight at halftime, leading 28-20 going into the break.

In the third, the Warriors’ Jayla Forbes scored seven points, which when paired with two three-pointers from Kay Kay Fenderson, slashed the Hornets’ lead and put Thompson down just 38-36 going into the fourth.

Forbes and Morgan Adolphus kept the rally coming for the Warriors and put the pressure on the visitors, but Chelsea stood firm against the challenge.

Olivia Pryor had five points, two rebounds and two steals in the final eight minutes to help the Hornets seal the two-point victory.

Brown led Chelsea with 14 points while grabbing four rebounds, while Schwallie scored 13 and Trotter had nine points, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

In addition, Pryor scored seven points and added four steals and three rebounds, and Madeline Epperson had five points.

For Thompson, Forbes led all scorers with 24 points, Fenderson scored 10 and Adolphus had seven.

Before that, Chelsea got the best of Pelham in a low-scoring battle.

Trotter had six of the Hornets’ 11 first quarter points as she and her teammates outscored Pelham 11-6 in the opening quarter.

From there, Chelsea’s defense took over with a pair of steals each from Pryor and Schwallie and held the Panthers to just three points in the second quarter.

That gave the Hornets a 19-9 lead going into the halftime locker room.

After the half, the great defensive effort continued from Chelsea, allowing four points in the third.

On the other end of the court, the Hornets extended their lead by six as Brown scored her first four points of the game and Trotter secured a double-double with her 10th rebound.

Chelsea went into the fourth quarter with a commanding 31-13 lead, but Pelham refused to go down without a fight.

Tiauna King took over with seven points in the fourth, and she and her teammates combined for 13 points to cut into the Hornets’ lead.

However, it would not be enough as Chelsea closed out the 35-26 win away from home.

Trotter led both teams with 13 points while also coming down with 13 rebounds, Schwallie had 10 points, and both Brown and Pryor had four points each, the latter also adding five rebounds and four steals as well.

For the Panthers, King scored 11 points and Karma Wynn had seven.

More Chelsea High

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Renfro’s last-second field goal lifts Oak Mountain to win over rival Chelsea

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