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The Tuesday night’s season-opening matchup between Atlee and Hanover girls’ basketball teams marked the first time that sisters Sydney and Taylor Henderson started a high school game together. However it was not until midway through the third quarter before the siblings announced their presence.

  When Atlee saw its lead dwindle due to a run from the Hawks, the Henderson sisters combined to reel off 10 straight points over a 2:20 span allowing the Raiders to break the game open.

  With 3:56 in the period, Taylor swiped the ball away from the Hawks, drove inside and scored on a layup. A minute later she dished off to her sister Sydney for an assist on a short jumper. Thirty second afterward it was Sydney drilling a three from the right wing. Less than a minute passed and Sydney drilled another three to open up the Raiders biggest lead of the night to that point which allowed Atlee to cruise to a 50-33 win. 

  “We have that sisterly connection,” Sydney said. “When it’s time to pick it up it’s time to pick it up.”

  Atlee head coach Anna Prillaman also enjoyed the Henderson show. “It’s neat to watch,” she said. “I’m sure their parents are thrilled to see them. Taylor Henderson came out and played a great game for us. She played 32 minutes. After being sort of a non-contributor last year to come do that in the first game, that’s huge.”

  For Hanover’s part, they already facing a monumental task of playing Atlee on their home floor, but the Hawks were further hampered by being without the services of one of their top players; Chelsea Coward who sat out due to illness.

  “It definitely hurt us because we played with different lineups and we played people more minutes than they’re used to playing,” said Hanover head coach Kevin Brooks. “We started a lineup today that was very different from one we’ve ever played with. And you’re playing without an all-district first team player and she makes the game easier for her teammates.

  Brooks said it was not only Coward’s double-digit scoring but her presence that made the difference in a game. “Part of what happens is because she draws so much attention other players get more opportunities and I think you saw that tonight where there weren’t as many opportunities for those people out there.”

  Despite the absence of Coward, the short-handed Hawks held their own through the first 20 minutes of action. Point guard Tiquana Hill scored the Hawks’ first three points as Hanover jumped out to a 3-2 lead with 4:31 in the first. But Hanover did not score again until 5:33 remained in the second quarter.

  Meanwhile, Atlee pulled ahead 12-3 on the strength of feeding the ball inside to their powerful senior Richelle Price for seven points.

  But Hanover slowly began chipping into the Raiders lead as the Hawks’ Taylor Woolard put back a blocked shot from Price. The score was followed by a short jumper from Kimberly Browning, who led Hanover with 12 points. Browning’s shot trimmed the Atlee lead to 12-7 and the margin remained the same as the teams headed into the locker rooms.

  The Hawks came out strong to open the second half with a three from Tia Dillich and jumper by Browning to cut Atlee’s lead to two, 22-20.

  The Raiders’ Britt Hill (11 points) scored on a put-back to widen the Raider’s margin once again but a put-back by Tyler Brace brought Hanover back within a duce.

  Atlee answered with a plus-one basket from Price to widen the margin to five, but Brace cut it back to three with a baseline drive.

  It was then that the Hendersons took control and broke the game open.
  “We all looked at each other, we all had the eye contact, just lets pick it up, lets go and that’s how we gained our lead because we all picked it up as a team and intensity up,” Sydney said.

  For Brooks, the run was not unexpected. “Atlee’s really good,” he said. “They have very good players, they’re well coached. They play hard. They make big shots at critical times. I think we had it to two about midway through the third quarter then we called time out and they go on a little spurt and hit back to back threes that are just daggers. They’re critical shots at critical times made by big time players.”

  Though pleased with her season-opening win, Prillaman said the margin of victory was somewhat deceptive. “It’s funny when you look at the score you seem happy but I don’t think we were totally thrilled about the way we played the entire game,” she said. “I think the first half was very sluggish. We looked like a team that just wants to go throw up threes and live and die by that and that’s not at all an offense that I want to run. We definitely learned some things we need to work on.”
 
HANOVER (0-1) T. Woolard 2, Dillich 6, Cox 0, Throckmorton 0, Deadmon 0, Hill 4, Douglas 2, Jordan 0, Denton 2, A. Woolard 1, Browning 12, Brace 4,Webb 0. Totals 11 9-14 33.
ATLEE (1-0) Townes 0, Hill 11, Taylor 0, Spiers 0, S. Henderson 13, T. Henderson 6, Price 10, Ashcraft 8, Eberle 2. Totals 14 10-12 50.
Hanover…...... 3 12 11 7 — 33
Atlee .............. 10 12 15 13— 50
3-point goals: H — Dillich, Browning. A — S. Henderson 2, Hill, Ashcraft.
Highlights: A — Richelle Price 18 rebounds, 3 blocks; Britt Hill 9 rebounds.