By Chris Stevens, Editor
Appoquinmink’s girls’ basketball team, Flight A co-champs last season, lost a few players to graduation, leaving head coach Kevin Smith to wonder how his team would look in their season opener against Flight B champ Brandywine.
He may not have too much to worry about.
Junior guard Alyssa Cresto, a transfer from St. Mark’s, buried five three-pointers for a team-high 18 points and sophomore guard Kyla Reed drove her way to 14 points as four Jaguar players reached double figures in a 67-31 win Thursday afternoon.
“I told them in the locker room, it was imperative to come out, set the tempo and start the season the way we thought we could start it,” Smith said. “We wanted to get under control, settle down and run our offense and we did that.”
Appo was never seriously challenged as two steals, layups and free throws by Reed opened up a 6-0 lead that turned in a 24-3 advantage after one. In the second quarter, Cresto swished four three-pointers for 17 first-half points and a 47-16 halftime lead for the Jaguars. Aside from Cresto and Reed’s scoring, junior guard/forward Adia Jones and sophomore guard Deja Martin each scored 12 points.
“We’ve been playing together all summer, so we have chemistry,” Cresto explained. “We all like each other on this team, there’s no negative energy.”
Appo (1-0) has a big test with Archmere Monday December 6 in their home opener while Brandywine, who was led by junior guard Layla Dallam’s 19 points, will visit Newark Tuesday December 7.
Check out the highlights below:
