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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Thorsby High School used a strong second half performance to muscle past Jemison High School on Jan. 11 to claim the varsity girl’s 2025 Chilton County Basketball Tournament Championship 55-38. Trailing by two at halftime, the Rebels outscored the Panthers 33-16 in the second half to claim their first county tournament crown since 2020.

“I cannot tell you how happy I am for these girls,” Thorsby head coach Kris Wood said. “We had a rough start to the year not winning many games, and we kind of got down about it. But the girls decided they were going to go into this tournament to win it. They had a great week of practice, and they pulled it off. I was just along for the ride.”

Thorsby and Jemison meeting in the final meant a new team would assume the top spot after Chilton County High School controlled the top peg for a handful of years consecutively. Thorsby got off to a quick start jumping out to a 13-9 lead after the first quarter, but the Panthers rallied to take a 24-22 lead into the halftime intermission.

It was not long into the second half when Thorsby reassumed the lead and started building upon it. Allie Reeser’s layup extended the lead to 35-27 with two-and-a-half minutes left in the quarter that sparked a Jemison timeout. The break did not stop the Rebels momentum as Brinley Giambrone knocked down a 3-pointer, her only field goal but in a great spot to convert it, to make it a 41-29 ballgame with just one quarter left.

Allie Reeser had 18 points to lead Thorsby in scoring, followed by Brooklyn Reeser with 17 points and Ava Robinson and Sakiya Gutierrez-Clark each with eight points.

“It was a total team effort,” Wood said. “We played only five girls really both games, but the girls who did not play much were encouraging and supportive the whole time.”

The Rebels continued to roll into the final frame with Allie Reeser knocking down a 3-pointer to extend the lead to its biggest of the game — 51-33, with just a few minutes remaining to ease down the stretch.

The loss snapped Jemison’s seven-game winning streak. The Panthers were led by Zariyah Johnson with 22 points, followed by Braelyn Bradford with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Both Bradford and Johnson were named to the 2025 All-County Tournament Team. Giambrone, Robinson and Brooklyn Reeser made the team from Thorsby, and Brooklyn Reeser claimed tournament MVP honors after 40 points across the two games in the tournament.

“Brooklyn got named MVP, and we had two more all-tournament players, but it takes a team to win games and they won it as a team,” Wood said. “I do not think they will ever forget this.”

The 2025 tournament win was the Thorsby varsity girls 11th Chilton County Basketball Tournament title in program history.

 

2025 All-County Tournament Team

Brooklyn Reeser, Thorsby High School (MVP)

Brinley Giambrone, Thorsby High School

Ava Robinson, Thorsby High School

Braelyn Bradford, Jemison High School

Zariyah Johnson, Jemison High School

Ivyonna Varner, Chilton County High School

I’Shunti Brown, Chilton County High School

Kenzie Vowell, Maplesville High School

Kamylia Talley, Maplesville High School

Taylor Owens, Isabella High School

Lakeyn Mims, Verbena High School