Orange Beach, Ala. – (OBA) – Mike Chase has two players who can legally drive a car. The rest are too young to hold a driver’s license. And while his Orange Beach Lady Makos record – 15-17 – indicates a young team, that young team is heading to Montgomery for the regional tournament as one of the sweet 16 left playing in the Class 4A girls state basketball tournament.

Orange Beach will tip off at 3 p.m. Wednesday against Jackson, 20-8, in Montgomery at Garrett Arena. The Orange Beach boys’ team will immediately follow with a matchup against Jackson as well hoping to unseat the two-time defending 4A state champion Aggies.

Chase, a girls’ head basketball coach in Alabama starting at Mountain Brook in 1998, says he scheduled bigger schools to start the year to toughen up his team for the competition against schools in Orange Beach’s classification and area. Competition included the likes of Saraland in 6A, St. Paul, Fairhope 7A, Pell City 6A, Pelham in 6A, Oak Mountain 7A, McGill-Toolen 6A, Foley 7A, Baker 7A, UMS-Wright 5A helping his girls get a taste of the “speed and physicality” of the game the bigger schools tend to play. His roster includes a senior, a junior and seven freshmen.

“Even though our record is 15-17, I figured if we could make it through that gauntlet and learn how to play against these big schools when we got into January and started playing our area and 4A schools, it would pay off for us, and it has,” Chase said. “Our kids have really settled into a pretty good rhythm now that they are playing schools their size.”

A youngster is leading the way for Chase’s team in freshman point guard Allie Roach, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding.

“She’s had a phenomenal year for a freshman, handling primarily all of our point guard duties,” Chase said. “She gets the ball up the floor well, finishes around the basket, and she’s a really, really good free-throw shooter and puts up a lot of points from the free-throw line. She’s shooting about 80 percent on free throws.”

Chase says he’s getting great leadership from his only senior, Mia Watts.

“She is the glue that holds everything together,” Chase said. “This is my 30th year of being a varsity basketball coach, and she’s one of the best captains that I’ve ever had. That’s saying a lot because I’ve had a couple of state championship teams, and I’ve got a girl playing in the WNBA who played for me. She’s done an amazing job, averaging 10 points per game, and she’s our leading three-point shooter. She’s really, really come on in January.”

His other upperclassman is a scrappy shooting guard who can shoot threes and averages about 10 points per game, Arianna Santos.

“We rely on those two guys (Arianna) and Mia, to kind of steady the ship, and Alie is kind of our freight train locomotive that gets the ball down the floor and gets the ball to them when they’re open,” Chase said. I think we’ve got a shot to win on Wednesday if we play. I think we have a good game plan. Our goal is to get to the next level, the elite eight.”

Jackson has been a frequent postseason opponent for the Lady Makos, beating Orange Beach 54-48 in the Elite Eight in 2024. Orange Beach returned the favor in 2025 with a road 50-38 win in the subregional to advance to the elite eight, where the Lady Makos eventually lost to St. Michael’s, 35-30.

“Their girls’ basketball program is really, really solid,” Chase said. “We always know at some point in the playoffs we’re probably going to run into them. This is when it happens.”

If the Lady Makos get the win, they’ll face the Geneva-Escambia County winner on Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. with a trip to the state tournament in Birmingham on the line.

Chase is in his 30th year coaching basketball, and that run includes girls state championships at 7A Spain Park in 2018 and 2020.

Brent & Madge Williams of Wolf Bay Media attended the tournament and shared these photos from the game.