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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton County High School’s Tyeshia Williams surpassed 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her high school career on Jan. 9 in the Tigers AHSAA Class 6A Area 5 opener against Calera High School.

The senior forward achieved 1,000 points during the 2024 Chilton County Varsity Girls Basketball Tournament on Jan. 6, and the team made it official midway through the first quarter after Williams’ second basket.

Williams said she did not know she passed the marks before receiving the honor at midcourt being presented a ball commemorating the achievement. Williams was at CCHS up until her junior year when she transferred to Calera before returning to the Tigers this year.

“It is a great thing, and I am happy about it and glad to have my teammates there who helped me achieve it,” Williams said. “I am glad to be back, and I was kind of mad I missed the opportunity to make it far last year. I think we are playing really well this year, we just have to pull a few more strings together.”

“When Tyeshia came back, some players come in that other players respect (immediately), and she was one of those players,” CCHS varsity girls head coach Rickey Pulliam said. “She is a big part of this team, and she just brings a different energy to the team.”

After Tania Wyatt hit a 3-pointer to start the game, the Tigers put together an 18-2 run to lead by 16 after the first quarter. Calera cut into the lead in the second quarter to shrink the lead to 25-12 at halftime, and cut it to 10 points shortly into the third quarter.

The Tigers’ press forced some turnovers out of Calera, and they were able to stretch their lead back out to 20, 41-21, entering the fourth quarter.

“The girls played well (in the area opener), and some of our girls did not know what the area was before the game,” Pulliam said. “Some of the girls explained that they won the area last year, and Ty has never won the area and she has been playing since her eighth-grade year. There is an excitement that they are playing with right now, and everyone is playing for each other. I think Ty is a major part of where we want to go, because it is not about the area championship this year, we want to win the next one.”

Antonekia Campbell hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that put CCHS up 50-21, their largest lead of the game, which the Tigers managed the rest of the way for the 55-25 win to start area play off on the right foot.

Williams was the leading scorer for CCHS going for 16 points, followed by Iasia Anderson with 13 points. Williams added 19 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and four blocks to her totals, and Anderson had 10 steals and nine assists. Ivyonna Varner had a season-high 14 steals for the Tigers as well.

The CCHS varsity boys’ team also got its area schedule underway on Jan. 9 against Calera picking up a 59-52 win. Layups by D.J. Caffey and Marshall Thornhill, and a jumper from Bradin Yates helped the Tigers jump out to a 12-5 lead, and up 15-11 after the opening quarter. Yates posted his seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Tigers carried over the momentum and started the second quarter on an 8-0 run, and a Cayden Meank 3-pointer gave them their biggest lead of the first half at 22-11. Meank was 4-for-6 for 3-point range with 12 points.

From there, Calera won the remainder of the second quarter 11-4 to trail by just four points at halftime, 26-22.

CCHS responded in the third quarter outscoring Calera 19-12 and managed the lead the rest of the way for the area-opener win. Godwin led the way with 15 points, followed by Caffey with 14 points.

Godwin was just a steal short of a triple-double adding 13 rebounds and nine steals to his totals. Eli Dale contributed seven assists for CCHS as well.

Both CCHS basketball teams will square off with Maplesville High School in their next game on Jan. 11, starting with the varsity girls at 6 p.m.