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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The optimism and excitement for the Chelsea Hornets are high as they look to parlay their success in Class 7A into a big return to Class 6A.

Chelsea finished the year 26-6 last season and made their first appearance in the Class 7A Elite Eight, with four of those losses coming from eventual state champion Hewitt-Trussville.

Now, they’ll have four starters back from that team, and their goal this season is to build off their foundation from last year.

“It certainly makes things different when you have a large amount of your kids coming back,” Chelsea coach Jason Harlow said. “Your expectations are they’re going to be ahead in the process in regards to understanding our system on offense and defense.”

Harlow and his players believe one of the biggest things that held them back from achieving their goal of reaching a Final Four was not being able to handle adversity well, and improving in the way they handle it is one of the biggest goals the team has for itself.

“We’ve got to handle hard things much different this year than what we did last year, and overcoming adversity is definitely got to be a point of emphasis for us, and just buying into the process regardless of what we have coming back,” Harlow said. “If we don’t buy into that process and attempt to get better every time we take the floor, it really doesn’t matter the pieces you have coming back or how much experience you have coming back.”

Harlow did say that he believes if this year enters the season determined to continue getting better, they have a shot to do something great.

“If we do that, though, I feel like this is a team that really has potential to be special,” Harlow said. “Both these girls (Haley Trotter and Sadie Schwallie) have played in two regional finals as varsity members in their time at Chelsea and twice we came up short. And so, it’s a great group to come back, but we’ve not accomplished some of the goals that we’ve set over the course of the last three years, and we certainly want to do that this year.”

Much of the excitement comes from that returning core. Led by the reigning Shelby County Player of the Year in Trotter along with fellow All-County selections Schwallie and Caroline Brown, the trio posed a lethal scoring threat last year and looks to be even better now.

Trotter credits much of her success to the quality of her teammates and wants to continue building chemistry with them in search of another successful season.

“Just really playing well with my team and just being able to bond well with my team and just working well with them, they’re really such a big impact,” Trotter said. “They’re the reason why I was able to get those records and everything. So, if it wasn’t for them, then I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

As for Schwallie, she has worked tirelessly on her shot in the gym over the offseason. Harlow joked that it’s hard to keep her off the court, and her work ethic has paid off as the season nears and she gets more consistent.

“I feel like last year one of my main struggles was I was not as consistent as I would like to have been, and I’ve been really putting in the work in the offseason, getting a lot of shots up, going in the morning before school shooting,” Schwallie said. “That’s really helped, and I’m hoping that will help me be better in the season once we get deeper and hopefully have a big run like, I’ll stay with that consistency and I’ll do better, that’s like my biggest thing I’ve been trying to work on, so I think if I accomplish that, then I’ll be pretty good this season.

Joining the upperclassmen will be sophomore point guard Olivia Pryor, who already has two seasons of experience at the varsity level and has high expectations going into the year.

“I think one of the best kept secrets in Shelby County is Olivia Pryor,” Harlow said. “She has played her eighth grade year and her freshman year on some pretty good teams in class 7A, and she’s returning this year and has looked fantastic in a lot of the preseason stuff we’ve done. So I think we’re really balanced.

While almost all of their scoring is back from last season, two of their biggest leaders have since moved on to college.

Madeline Epperson and Baylor McCluney may have been seen as role players on the stat sheet, but to any of the Hornets players, the two of them set the tone with their intensity and how they led in the locker room.

Their absence has left a big leadership void in the Chelsea huddle, but it’s one that the team’s four seniors are doing their best to fill as they learn how to lead on the fly.

“I think Madeline and Baylor leaving, they were such great leaders, and we have tried our best, but honestly, they were so amazing when they were here, it’s really hard to mimic that,” Schwallie said. “But, I think me and Haley and then our other two seniors, Allie (Scott) and Sydney Carroll have done a great job so far, and hopefully we continue to get better as the season goes on.”

Harlow has spoken for months on how essential it is for his four seniors to step into those leadership positions. He not only believes it is crucial for the team’s success but also important for their personal development.

“I think it’s a big part of both of their growth processes,” Harlow said of Trotter and Schwallie. “They have played varsity since they were freshmen, and they’ve played varsity on some good teams and played with a lot of kids that have been fortunate enough to go play at the next level, and they’re really talented players, but if they don’t step up from a vocal standpoint, on the day to day in this process, then we won’t accomplish our goals, and that’s just part of this growth process for these two.”

As far as their style on the court, it’s a Harlow-coached Chelsea team, so defense is always going to be their bread and butter. The Hornets had a historically efficient season on the defensive side this year and the hope is that leads to improvement on both ends of the court.

“I think it always starts defensively,” Harlow said. “I think last year we gave up 33 points a game, which is the least amount of points we’ve given up in my seven years here at Chelsea, so we’re always going to hang our hat on defense. Hopefully this year, we’re a little better in our transition offense, than what we’d been, and that’ll be a big point of emphasis this year, and I think we’re a balanced team.”

While Chelsea has high expectations for this season as it moves down to Class 6A to face Helena, Pelham and Spain Park in Area 8, they’ll face those challenges with a group of players that has an unbreakable bond.

Schwallie loves how tight-knit the entire team is from the coaching staff to the players, and the excitement level that they have to play for each other boosts everyone as they pursue their goals.

“I just love our group of girls so much. I really do,” Schwallie said. “I’m great friends with all of them, and we just have so much fun together. We have a great coach and he gets along with all of us well, and I think we just enjoy the season more than other teams, honestly. We love it, and all of the girls have just been so excited to start the season, and it’s a great feeling. It really is when you have that around you.”