On Friday, Dec. 6, the Lady Hawks won a hard-fought battle in their season debut against the Fightin’ Planets, 56-52.

Sophomore forward AJ Elphinstone, junior guard Kathryn Boff, junior guard Bella Coleman, senior point guard Sadie Orie and senior forward Ella Sabatos formed the starting five.

In the first quarter, the Hawks’ defense was impressive, allowing Mars to score only with 3 minutes left. After the first buzzer, the Hawks led 12-6.

Mars picked up the scoring in the second quarter and shortened their deficit to within two at halftime. The Lady Hawks led 24-22 heading into the locker room.

The Fightin’ Planets outscored the Hawks 17-7 in the third quarter.  They had the lead heading into the final frame.

But the Lady Hawks picked up steam in the fourth quarter and dominated outscoring their opponent 25-13.

About their play in the fourth, Orie said: “We came out a lot stronger in our press and we really started to pressure the ball more than we had the entire game, and it caused a lot of very easy turnovers for us. We also connected as a team and connected on shots easier.”

“I just told myself to stay calm and be confident with the ball because I have played so many games before and this is just like any other one,” Sabatos said.

Junior Bella Coleman had 3 steals and scored 6 points. Ella Sabatos had 2 points and Sadie Orie had 5.

Freshman Fiona O’Neill picked up 3 points for the Hawks in the fourth quarter.

Boff and Coleman had 6 points, O’Neill had 3, Sabatos had 15 and Orie had 23 points!

Not even 24 hours later, the Hawks got their second win of the season. This one was a 79-75 high-scoring contest against Elizabeth Forward.

Orie had 25 points and Sabatos had 29 points.

The next game is on Tuesday, Dec. 9 away at Canon-Mac at 6 p.m.