If you’re looking for Paul Lanzi, chances are he’s in a gym somewhere shooting shot after shot.
That work ethic has led Lanzi to great success and he is now Chelsea High School’s all-time leading scorer.
“He’s a gym rat,” Chelsea head basketball coach Nick Baumbaugh said of him. I’m just in
Senior Lanzi is the fourth of five siblings to join Chelsea’s basketball programme. Stephen, Joseph and Matthew preceded him, with Anthony soon following as a national team contributor. Joseph still plays for Auburn University in Montgomery.
In other words, Paul Lanzi has seen quite a few Chelsea basketball games over the years.
“It was really fun,” he said. “I’ve been watching Joseph since he was a freshman in high school, so I’ve been here a long time to see how things operate and how coaches work. [Baumbaugh] How coaches and teams work. ”
This year’s Hornets Lanzi and four other seniors are looking to make the postseason. They are not deterred by the fact that Chelsea have moved up to Class 7A level and are playing in Spain Park, Hewitt He is in Trusville, Oak Mountain area.
“We’ve got a really good team this year and I’m really excited to see what we can do,” Lanzi said.
Chelsea have struggled with intense competition after starting the season 5-5. An overtime loss to Vestavia Hills was among those losses. However, in December, the Hornets began showing strong play as he recorded his eighth straight win after an overtime loss to Phoenix City.
Baumbaugh loves watching seniors come together and play together and have fun. MJ Conrad, EJ Hadnall, Dylan Brown and Alex Red have done a great job leading the team and assimilating the young players into the squad.
“These guys are great friends,” he said. “Both juniors and seniors, these guys love each other.”
Baumbaugh also appreciates how players embrace their roles.
“They know Paul is our best player and he’s doing a good job finding them too,” Baumbaugh said. We want everyone to succeed together.”
The Hornets beat Mountain Brook in an area contest last year, attracting the attention of other teams in the area.
“It was amazing. Everyone was excited after that match,” Lanzi said. “It was a great win. We played solid defense, made extra passes, dived for loose his balls and hit big his shots.”
If Chelsea can consistently get that kind of performance from the team, the Hornets may be able to back up their postseason hopes.
Lanzi would like to play basketball in college, but has not yet decided at the time of writing.
“He got it,” said Baumbaugh.
The Hornets will play in the Area 6 tournament in early February in hopes of advancing to the Northeast region for the first time since 2016.