TURNER — It’s been a weak of practice after practice and a lot of pent up energy.

So when the basketball was tossed up Friday night, the Leavitt girls’ were ready for some real action against Lincoln.

“We were so excited,” said junior forward Adrie Newton. “We just wanted to come out and be able to run for a long time. We wanted to get steals and get a lot of fast breaks.”

The Hornets used that excitement and energy in their defense. Leavitt forced 15 turnovers in the first quarter and built an early double-digit lead as the Hornets cruised to an opening-night 79-43 win.

“I think the kids were excited to get playing,” said Leavitt coach Tammy Anderson.  “We had some preseason games against some tough teams. This week was all practice. So they were ready to get out there.”

Leavitt hardly needed any half-court offense in the first quarter. The Hornets defensive pressure gave the Eagles fits. The abundance of turnovers led to a plethora of fast break points as Leavitt opened up a 15-1 lead with 15 straight points.

“I know the kids would look at me kind of funny if we didn’t start the game with some kind of pressure,” said Anderson. “We knew we were going to do that.”

Courtney Anderson led the Hornets with 23 points while Newton added 18. Kristen Anderson had 16. Lincoln was led by Katherine Bolster’s 25.

Lincoln scored 18 of its points from the free-throw line. That’s because its offense struggled to get the ball up the floor in the first half. The Eagles hit just three shots from the floor and had 26 turnovers in the first half.

“If we do good in the beginning, we’ll continue to go right through,” said Newton. “It was a good start for the year. We’re excited to pick it up from where we were last year.”

Leavitt went 17-1 and claimed the KVAC title last year and lost in the Western B semifinals. The Hornets return almost all of that team, and Leavitt’s familiarity with each other showed as the team played with confidence and executed nicely.

“We’ve been playing together since kindergarten,” said Newton. “It’s so fun every season. We love it.”

The Hornets had the lead to 17-6 after the first. Leavitt scored 10 of those points directly off steals. The lead was up by 36-15 at the half. Leavitt also got eight points from Amanda Jordan and six each from Abbey Randall and Jenna Cote.

“Part of our goals this year is to build some strength in our bench,” said Anderson, whose team typically subbed five-for-five last year but subbed players in and out regularly Friday. “We don’t ever know what’s going to happen. We could have foul trouble or injuries. We’ve got great players on the bench but they’re just young.”

Cote, Sarah Frost, Mariah Treadwell and Kelly Pomerleau all came in off the bench and played with confidence as Leavitt maintained the lead in the second half.

“Our bench is so deep,” said Newton. “We have all the players back except for one from last year. So we hope to do really good this year.”

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