Winning the county tournament gave the Chilton County High School basketball program a ton of momentum, but it will be up to each team to make sure the momentum is maintained in the second half of the season.

The varsity girls basketball team did just that with a 66-54 win at home against No. 9 Selma on Jan. 9.

In many ways, CCHS did not just win the game, but made a statement by extending its lead late in the game against a top 10 team in Class 6A.

“That win right there is a jump starter for us to hopefully have a really good season,” CCHS head coach Clint Pitchford said. “It is probably the biggest win that they’ve had in program history.”

Kiara Steele had a huge game and came through for the Tigers time after time.

CCHS led 48-40 heading into the fourth quarter and really began to lean on Steele to help close out the game in the final eight minutes.

Steele finished with a game-high 26 points, which included 12 in the final quarter when her team needed it the most.

Selma had no answer for Steele’s size down low and that remained the case in all four quarters.

“When she wants to dominate, it’s hard to stop her,” Pitchford said. “What most people don’t realize about her is that she has really good hands and some good post moves to go with it. That’s rare.”

The game was a complete opposite from when the two teams met on Dec. 12 and CCHS lost to Selma 50-34.

“We spent a lot of time during Christmas [break] going back and teaching them a lot of the fundamentals,” Pitchford said. “When we played Selma [on Dec. 12] it was the little things that cost us. We were really prepared tonight, and I felt really good before we tipped off.”

According to CCHS junior Shalisa White, the earlier loss to Selma was definitely in the back of her mind and making sure it did not happen twice was fuel in Tuesday’s win.

Communication on the court is something the Tigers have worked on throughout the year and it is beginning to reflect on the scoreboard.

“Coach trusts us to do the right thing,” CCHS senior Lexis Blackman said. “We lean on our teammates to keep it up and have the best interest in what we do.”

Jasmine Martin and Blackman both finished in double figures scoring with 17 and 11 points respectively.

With the win, CCHS improved to a record of 1-1 in Area 5-6A and 8-6 overall.