Huge Fourth Quarter Lifts Chelsea Girls Past Williamston

The Chelsea girls’ basketball team saw its offense struggle for a half against Saturday night when senior Megan McCalla put the team on her shoulders and carried Chelsea to a 63-33 rout of the Hornets.

The game was a rematch of last year’s D2 Regional semifinals in which the Bulldogs won a squeaker 42-40 over the Hornets and Saturday night’s game looked to be another low-scoring affair until the fourth quarter.

Both offenses struggled in the opening quarter with the teams tied at seven after one.

Chelsea scored the first five of the second, but Williamston answered with five straight of its own to tie the game at 12-12.

Leila Wells hit a lay-up at the halftime buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 17-14 lead.

Leila Wells finished with 17 points against Williamston. Photo by Mike Williamson

McCalla began to warm up in the third and scored seven to help the Bulldogs outscore the Hornets 11-9 for a 28-23 lead after three quarters.

Chelsea would blow the game open with a 9-0 run to start the fourth with McCalla scoring seven of the night for the Bulldogs.

Avery Lay hit a triple and the Bulldog’s run was 15-2 and the lead was now 42-25 midway through the fourth and the rout was on.

Chelsea would score 35 points in the fourth with McCalla and Wells combining for 26 points in the final period alone. The Bulldogs outscored the Hornets 35-10 in the period to pull away for the 66-33 win.

McCalla finished with 26 points, including 22 in the second half to lead the Bulldogs.

Wells finished with 17 points, with 11 coming in the decisive fourth quarter. Lay finished with seven points and Braiden Scheffler a pair of triples in the fourth to finish with six, and Maggie McKale chipped in with seven points.

The Bulldogs improved to 8-1 overall. SEC White play begins this week with games against Pinckney and rival Dexter.

Photos by Mike Williamson