By Rob Potter
HANCOCK — December 27, 2005 – The Eldred Lady Yellowjackets used a second-quarter scoring spurt to break open Thursday night’s non-league game against the host Hancock Lady Wildcats.
Eldred held an 8-4 lead after the first quarter, but outscored Hancock 24-7 in the second period to take a commanding 32-11 advantage at halftime.
The Lady Yellowjackets extended that lead in the third and fourth quarters on the way to recording a 61-29 victory.
One minute into the second quarter, Eldred’s Becky Hallock hit a 10-foot jumper to give her team a double-digit lead at 14-4. With 2:15 remaining until the intermission, the Lady Yellowjackets’ advantage grew to 20 points when Marla Parisio scored inside the lane.
By the end of third period, Eldred (3-1) held a 46-23 advantage.
The Lady Yellowjackets had a balanced offensive attack as nine players recorded at least one point. Leading the way were Stephanie Berger, who scored a team-high 13 points, and Parisio, who netted 12 points.
Ayla Kelty added nine points and Hallock finished the evening with eight points.
“I think this small court really affected us in the first quarter,” Eldred Coach Frank Kean said of the cozy, venerable Hancock Central School gymnasium. “But we were able to step up our defense in the second quarter and take control.”
In the second half, Kean substituted liberally and the team scaled back its aggressive defense.
“Everybody got to play tonight and I always like it when we can do that,” Kean said.
With the loss, Hancock fell to 0-5 on the season.
Hancock Coach John Marino noted that he has a “very young team.”
“We only have one senior on the team and our starting point guard tonight, Daisha Kane, is a freshman who was playing on the modified team last year,” he said.
Despite the tough start to the season, Marino remains optimistic.
“These girls are working hard and starting to play better,” he said.
Junior center Liz Rice led the Lady Wildcats with 17 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds.
Donna Crossman added eight points for Hancock.
Marino noted that his team had “trouble with their trapping defense.”
He also said that from what he had heard, he knows that Eldred “has a great program.”
The coach was also impressed with the sportsmanship shown by Eldred during the contest.
“My first impression of their coach is that he is a very classy coach and a nice guy,” Marino said of Kean.