Spain Park defeats Chelsea to win regular season area title
Published on Tuesday, January 23, 2024 at 11:16 p.m.
Written by Tyler Lally | Special to reporters
Chelsea – The Spain Park Jaguars have played in many big games over the past few years. When they played again on Tuesday, Jan. 23, they played just like before, winning the Class 7A, Area 6 regular season title for the first time since 2015.
Entering the final quarter with a four-point lead, the Jags stepped up on both sides and remained unbeaten inside the area, defeating county rivals Chelsea 42-35 on a memorable night for both teams. I won.
TJ Lamar stepped up in a big way at Spain Park, dropping 15 points on a night where he scored in each quarter to help his team to a big win.
The first quarter was the theme of the night as neither team was able to break the double-digit mark on the scoreboard in this defensive battle. No one broke out, as no player made more than one field goal in the first few minutes. The score was 9-6 entering the second quarter.
This is where Lamar started to show his physicality, with the senior Hornets forward drawing multiple shooting fouls and scoring opportunities at the charity stripe. In this quarter, he scored five points on a long ball from Quinn Davis.
In addition to gradually increasing attacking success, the Jags’ defense gave Spain Park great momentum going into the first half, holding Chelsea to just four points in the second quarter. This moved Chris Larch’s team into seventh place at the break.
Spain Park came out of the locker room with continued success, but it didn’t come without challenges.
Chelsea senior stars Jackson Shuttlesworth and Avery Futch fought to keep the Jags from running away with a big win on their alma mater’s court. The duo scored 13 of the Hornets’ 14 points in the third quarter, more than the team scored in the first two quarters.
Spain Park stayed calm as Lamar scored four more points and Joshua Helms and Chapman Blevins hit key free throws to give the Jags a 28-24 lead going into the final period.
That’s when senior Corbin Long got on the scoreboard, again leading the team in area plays. Long scored all five of his points in the final half and made three clutch free throws to help maintain and extend his team’s lead.
Lamar also scored four more points in the fourth, gradually filling up the stat sheet in the 42-35 win, capping off an impressive night.
The Jaguars’ defense was also solid, holding the Hornets to just nine points in the final quarter.
The regular season championship will mark the first time in nine years that Spain Park has hosted an area tournament and will give the team significant momentum heading into the postseason.
Chelsea’s Aiden Owens was the top scorer with 18 points, while Futch scored 10 himself. Futch officially wrote his name in Chelsea history with his performance, becoming the fifth Hornet to reach the 1,000-point club.