A pair of evenly-matched teams fought it out Wednesday evening right here in the Maple City.

Longtime hardwood rivals Honesdale and Delaware Valley tipped off second half Lackawanna League action with a brutally physical battle that went right down to the wire.

In the end, the visiting Warriors parlayed solid defense and outstanding foul shooting into a 58-51 victory.

“This is one of those games that you know is always going to be close,” Coach Tracy Ludwig told TWI Sports just moments after the loss. “We really didn’t play our best tonight, but we did play very hard for all four quarters.”

With this loss, Honesdale’s overall record drops to 8-8 on the season. The Lady Hornets are 0-1 in second half action.

This was DV’s first win of the regular season. The Warriors are now 5-10 on the year.

Next up for the Red & Black is a weekend road trip to the Electric City. The Lady Hornets will take on perennial District Two powerhouse Scranton Prep tomorrow night. Opening tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Re-Match
The first time these two ball-clubs squared off was back on January 4th in Milford.

On that particular evening, the Lady Hornets needed two overtime periods before finally defeating the Warriors, 50-46.

This time around, it looked as though the Red & Black just might have their way with the visitors. Coach Ludwig’s girls dominated the early portion of the game, sprinting out to an 11-2 lead and forcing DV’s Chris Neidig to burn a timeout.

Marisa Gallik and Anna Al-bers led the way for Honesdale in the opening stanza. Gallik buried a trey, while Albers scored in transition and added two free throws.

Marisa would end up as the Lady Hornets’ top scorer with 12 points. Anna finished her night with 10.

Kim Commisso proved to be DV’s top threat. The Warriors’ senior forward scored five early points en route to a game-high 21. Commisso was aided & ab-etted by Jenna Peters (10 pts) and Amanda Smith (9 pts).

DV’s timeout served its intended purpose...which was to slow Honesdale’s momentum. The Warriors chipped away at the deficit and actually pulled to within one point (26-25) at intermission.
The Future is Now
Several underclassmen are quickly making their presence felt in Honesdale’s varsity line-up this winter.

While Mary Martin has become a fixture at point guard, Kacie Johannes and Abby Rickard are also seeing extensive playing time off the bench.

On Wednesday night, Johannes rattled the rims for a game high 13 points in the JV contest. Kacie then scored seven more in the varsity contest.

“She is just fearless,” Coach Ludwig said. “I send Kacie out there in key situations and she doesn’t blink an eye. I’m very excited about Kacie’s future.”

Rickard also found her way into the fray for three of the four varsity periods. Abby didn’t score, but she did make an impact both defensively and on the boards.

“I’m very confident in Abby’s ability to come off the bench and make something happen,” said Coach Ludwig. “She’s getting better & better and she’s also starting to show some leadership qualities.”

Audrey Calkin also turned in another fine performance. Honesdale’s junior center scored 10 points, blocked a pair of shots and hauled down 12 rebounds in the loss.

Down to the Wire
Honesdale trailed by double digits heading into the fourth period. However, the Lady Hor-nets put together a late run that had the crowd going wild.

Calkin provided the inside muscle, while Gallik & Albers lit it up from the perimeter.

In fact, when Gallik drilled a jumper and Johannes made a pair of foul shots, Honesdale drew to within just four points at 46-42.

Alas, DV was just too good from the line. The Warriors hit 6-of-7 free throws down the stretch to ice this contest.

HON (8-8, 0-1) 51: Gallik 5 0-2 12; Albers 3 2-2 10; Calkin 4 2-2 10; M. Martin 3 2-2 8; Johannes 2 2-3 7; K. Martin 1 0-0 2; Kowalczyk 1 0-0 2; Rickard 0 0-0 0; Robbins 0 0-0 0.
DV (5-10, 1-0) 58: Commisso 8 5-6 21; Peters 2 6-6 10; Smith 4 0-0 9; Pullis 3 1-3 7; Boccio 3 0-0 6; Thompson 1 1-2 3; Quinones 0 0-0 0; Kruse 1 0-0 2.

Score by Quarters...
HON  15  11  10  15 - 51
DV     10  15  21  12 - 58