By By TOM NYHUIS / Niles Daily Star
ST. JOSEPH – The Buchanan girls' varsity basketball team didn't get off to a quick start in their opening basketball game of the 2007-08 season, but once they got warmed up there was no stopping the Lady Bucks as they began the year with a 63-29 non-league win at St. Joseph Tuesday night.
It was also a big night for senior Hayley Cashier.
The four year varsity starter needed 18 points to break the 1,000 career point mark. Cashier finished the night with 20 points moving her to 1,002 with a full schedule remaining to add to her career total. Cashier averaged 19.8 points per game last year.
"I knew coming into the game I was close to getting there," Cashier said following the win. "During the game I didn't know how close I was until I heard everyone yelling and cheering when I reached it. I'm really happy getting it tonight, but if I didn't get it tonight I just wanted to leave here happy with a win."
Emily Ross and Anna Callahan each contributed to the win pumping in 10 and 12 points respectively. Julia LaBounty came off the bench and added nine.
"I thought we played aggressive as a team," Buchanan coach Bill Weaver said. "Everyone was involved in assists, rebounding and baskets. This was a good win for us."
After a slow start in the first four minutes of the game, Buchanan held a 4-2 lead. From there the Lady Bucks finished out the quarter with a 9-0 run to take the lead 13-2 after the first eight minutes and didn't look back as they extended that lead to 32-13 at the half with Cashier scoring 11 first half points.
Cashier's final points of the night came with 4:15 to play in the third quarter with her team leading 46-17.
From that point on she watched the rest of the game from the bench as Callahan and LaBounty took over the offensive charge with each scoring eight points in the final quarter and a half to seal the win.
St. Joe's Kayla Mahler led the Bears with nine points and Kaitlin Mavis added eight.
Tuesday's win, Buchanan's second win in the last 12 meetings, gives the Bears a 10-2 record over Buchanan since the series began in 1973.
Buchanan will travel to Edwardsburg on Friday as they open Lakeland Conference play against the Eddies at 7:30 p.m.
St. Joe's junior varsity team came away with a 33-26 win over the junior Bucks squad in their season opener.
Chelsea Adolph paced the Lady Bucks with 16 points. Jordan Helt pitched in with six and Taylor Mondschein added four to round out the scoring for Buchanan. Kayla Blake led the Bears with 11.
BUCHANAN 63
Hillary Faulkner 2 1-2 6, Emily Ross 4 2-3 10, Elizabeth Hein 1 0-1 2, Leah Hunt 0 0-0 0, Amanda Wynn 2 0-0 4, Julia Labounty 4 1-3 9, Anna Callahan 4 4-4 12, Hayley Cashier 8 4-5 20. Totals 25 (1) 12-18 63.
ST. JOSEPH 29
Kayla Mahler 3 2-2 9, Erin Etter 1 2-2 5, Megan McQullan 1 0-0 2, Sara Cobb 0 2-4 2, Jacqueline McElroy 1 1-2 3, Kaitlin Mavis 4 0-1 8. Totals 10 (2) 7-11 29.
Buchanan 13 19 22 9 – 63
St. Joe 2 11 6 10 – 29
3-point baskets: Faulkner (B), Mahler (SJ), Etter (SJ). Turnover Buchanan 21, St. Joe 32. Records: Buchanan 1-0, St. Joe 0-1