There was a time when Delaware Valley appeared to have a head start on others in Lackawanna League girls basketball.
The Lady Warriors had a veteran team, were among the few schools that had already met their required number of preseason practices before Gov. Tom Wolf halted extracurricular activities around the state and they were the second league team to jump into game action.
Then, it came to a halt.
Delaware Valley lost its first game and did not play again for 16 days as it went from the select group of teams getting in the most preseason work to the growing list that had to take a break during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Lady Warriors returned to the court last week and although they slipped to 0-3 overall, their most recent outing of the season was their best, giving Lackawanna League Division 2 leader Western Wayne fits before losing by six points.
That outing was perhaps the best evidence to date of why Delaware Valley went into the season with reason to hope for improvement on last season’s records of 1-12 and 3-20.
Two players who have started since their freshman years and have received all-star recognition lead the way.
Brooke Acoveno, a 5-foot-11 senior forward/guard, was a first-team Lackawanna Division 2 all-star selection by NEPABasketball.com last season after earning second-team recognition as a sophomore. The Lehigh University track and field-committed athlete led the team in points (13.0 per game) and rebounds (8.3) last season.
Mackenzie Olsommer, a 5-7 junior guard, was a second-team pick. Olsommer was second in scoring and rebounding last season when she averaged nine points, six rebounds and three assists.
The Lady Warriors return two senior guards who started last season, 5-8 Gabby White and 5-6 Kaitlyn Hernandez. They combined to average a dozen points per game last season.
There is more experience returning in the backcourt with seniors Erin Hartley and Meghan Byrnes and junior Jillian Senior. Hartley has been the team’s top 3-point threat early in the season.
“This is a squad that has multiple players with varsity experience and strong senior leadership,” coach Lindsay Baker said prior to the opener. “ … We are looking to continue to be competitive and expand our growth as a program.”
The team lost a likely starter in junior center Nikki Kalitsnik because of a season-ending knee injury, but has three 5-10 players among the newcomers trying to work into the lineup. Kalitsnik, who came on strong late last season to earn some starts, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in soccer season.
