By Austin Franklin | Special to the Advertiser

The Chilton County High School Tigers girls basketball team was outmatched Friday night 57-39 on the road against an experienced Calera team.

The Tigers consistently had trouble moving the ball throughout the game and found themselves down early as a result.

Calera added pressure to CCHS, which resulted in a handful of 5-second violations for Chilton County in the first quarter.

Unable to create passing lanes against Calera’s press, the Tigers were down 19-7 after one quarter of play.

The second quarter played out much like the first, as Calera managed to weave through the Tigers’ zone and extend its lead.

Chilton County’s Lexis Blackmon did what she could to mitigate the damage by scoring eight points, all of which came in the paint.

While the Tigers scored on a more regular basis in the second quarter, its defense was unable to generate the stops necessary to climb back into the game and trailed 32-16 entering the half.

Turnovers plagued the Tigers throughout the game, and its offensive efforts were in vain, as the Eagles maintained its double-digit lead over the course of the second half.

The frustration mounted for the Tigers throughout the second half, and by the end of the third quarter the deficit was insurmountable with the Tigers down 51-25.

Sarah Goodwin added nine points for Calera and contributed great defensive pressure throughout the game.

The youth of the Tigers played a large part in the game, and head coach Robert Bradford touched on the subject after the game.

“We don’t have a senior on the team,” Bradford said. “We’re very young. A lot our girls playing are ninth and 10th graders. It’s frustrating sometimes because we don’t have the ball skills that we need to compete with a really good time like this.”

While CCHS may have lost the game, they can look forward to a young team that is still growing and ultimately look forward to having a seasoned, competitive team in the years to come.