Freshman Alexis Amabile came off the bench, buried four three-pointers and scored 15 of her game-high 23 points as the Delaware Hayes girls basketball team built a 27-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Fellow freshman Jordan Lantz also cracked double-figures as the host Pacers ran away from Delaware Christian 64-36 in non-league action Saturday afternoon in Delaware.
“It’s a little nerve-racking because (I’m) a freshman playing against older girls. But, my teammates have been really helpful,” Lantz said.
All told, Hayes (2-0) knocked down seven threes for the game – led by Amabile with six.
“Those two girls are the foundation of what we’re going to rebuild here,” Hayes coach Lou Tiberi said. “I thought (Alexis) did a nice job with shot selection.”
It came a game after the Pacers mustered just 39 points against Patriot Prep in the season-opening win Tuesday night. Amabile and Lantz also led the way in scoring in that one.
“We didn’t play much different than the way we played Tuesday night … just the ball went in,” Tiberi said. “We made the same mistakes as we made Tuesday. When you make threes, it covers a lot of mistakes.”
Conversely, DCS did not attempt a three-pointer and struggled to get going until the fourth quarter.
Lyssi Snouffer scored 10 of her team-high 18 points in the final stanza to help the Eagles whittle down a 36-point deficit at the end of the third. She also pulled down 19 rebounds.
“She didn’t come out (of the game) – she played every second,” DCS coach Jackie Boggs said. “She’s still brand new to basketball … so she finds 19 rebounds with just athleticism.”
The Eagles are going through a bit of a youth movement as well.
“I don’t think it was anything (Hayes) did – it was just our lack of experience on defense,” Boggs said. “We have so many young kids stepping on the floor. (We’re) playing four kids that have (experience) at the varsity level.”
Anna Fuller finished with 10 points and Abbi Maurer added six for DCS (1-1).
“These are the teams we want to play to get better,” Boggs said. “We’ve just got to get tougher.”
Next up, DCS opens MOCAL play Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Madison Christian. Hayes is off until Friday at 7:30 p.m. when it opens OCC-Cardinal action with a trip to Hilliard Darby.
“(Darby) is kind of everything we are not. They’re big, they’re physical, they play with great confidence, they’ve had a lot of consistency there the last three years – so, we’ll kind of see where we’re at (Friday night),” Tiberi said.
