The North Callaway girls had big contributions from two of their new additions.
Sophomore Riley Blevins matched senior Kyanne Kellerman with a team-leading 12 points in the Ladybirds' season-opening 57-22 win at home against a depleted Calvary Lutheran team Monday night in Kingdom City. Freshman Natalie Shryock added 11 points, making three of the team's five 3-pointers.
The Lady Lions (0-1) had only five players available as the team has battled injuries and illness. North Callaway (1-0) took advantage of this by going up 22-6 after one quarter and 41-11 at halftime.
Blevins was making her Ladybird debut after playing her freshman season as a Mexico Lady Bulldog, when she averaged 8.1 points per game and 2.3 assists per game as the third-leading scorer and leading facilitator.
Kellerman went into Monday night as the team's second-leading scorer from a season ago, averaging 5.6 points per game, while being the Ladybirds' top returning rebounder, averaging 5.2 per game behind the graduated Makenna Allen.
Calvary Lutheran had one player in double figures: sophomore Sydney Morris with 10 points.
Tim Turlington, in his first year as the North Callaway girls basketball coach, was pleased with what he saw from his new team on opening night.
"It was a good way to start the season and a good win," Turlington said. "I saw some things we need to work on, but I also saw a lot of good things we did well."
North Callaway plays its next game at 6 p.m. next Tuesday at home against Centralia. The Ladybirds seek to break a streak of three straight losses to the Lady Panthers.
In middle school basketball, the North Callaway seventh/eighth-grade girls home game scheduled for today against Bowling Green has been postponed because of COVID-19 quarantines.