Hall sisters shine in opener

NORTH ENGLISH — It was no coincidence Ayla Hall was seventh in Class 1A in steals last season.

The Warriors’ senior totaled five first-half steals Monday night and easily could’ve doubled that as the HLV-TC girls’ basketball opened their season with a 49-43 win over English Valleys.

Hall, a Central College commit, also led the way in scoring with 21 points.

The Warriors may be undersized, but they played with hustle all night, scoring many of their baskets in transition off steals and rebounds.

“We knew we lost three of our five starters from last season, so coming in we were going to need to have a lot of those hustle plays,” Hall said. “We don’t have much height. The hustle is what we need.”

Hall certainly brought that, playing at the top of the Warriors zone defense.

“I think that’s my best strong-suit,” Hall added.

In the first quarter, the Warriors started on an 8-2 run, but English Valleys settled in to take the 13-12 lead after one.

Both teams traded baskets in the second, and the Bears still led, 21-20, around the four minute mark.

Back-to-back Ayla Hall steals began the 13-0 run that propelled the Warriors into the lead to end the half.

Hall dished out two assists to her younger sister Emery during the run.

“We’ve never played basketball together,” Ayla said. “It was really fun tonight with her, and I’m glad I’m able to play with her this year.”

Emery was second on the team in scoring on the night, hitting double digits with 10.

The Bears cut the lead to as low as six in the third after consecutive threes from Addison and Aubrey Achenbach, but the Warriors led 40-31 after three.

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The Warriors jumped out to a 49-36 lead in the fourth and would not score again, but that was all the cushion they needed to hold on for the 49-43 victory.

Ava Gehrking led the Bears in scoring with 13. Aubrey Achenbach had 12.

“We just had too many turnovers,” English Valleys coach Jeff Miller said. “We are young and still learning. The better play in the second half was encouraging.”

For the Warriors, this marks not only win one on the season, but the first win for Coach Nick Blomme at the helm.

“It was fun, and 1-0, that’s all you can ask for,” Blomme said.

“We’ve really embraced the ‘it’s us’ mindset, and out there tonight you could see that.”

AT NORTH ENGLISH

HLV-TC (49): Lily Randall 0-3 0-0 0, Ema Roberts 0-0 0-0 0, Emery Hall 5-9 0-0 10, Aaliyah Cooper 2-4 0-0 6, Ayla Hall 8-18 4-6 21, Sienna Molyneux 2-2 1-1 5 5, Raegan Molyneux 1-3 0-0 3, Nicole Gensley 2-4 0-0 4, Totals 20-43 5-7 49

English Valleys (43): Kailor Lown 2, Anna Luers 6, Aubrey Achenbach 12, Addison Achenbach 6, Ava Gehrking 13, Mallory Koehn 2, Kaylynn Caster 2

HLV-TC............12 21 7 9—49

English Valleys 13 8 10 12—43

3-point goals — HLV-TC 4-16 (Randall 0-2, Emery Hall 0-2, Cooper 2-4, Ayla Hall 1-5, Raegan Molyneux 1-3); Rebounds — HLV-TC 15 (Randall, Ayla Hall 3); Assists — HLV-TC 12 (Ayla Hall 6); Steals — HLV-TC 9 (Ayla Hall 5); Total fouls — HLV-TC 15