Hancock surges past DuBourg in second half for 3-0 start

A sophomore guard, Collins turned defense into offense to help Hancock pull away for a 52-33 nonconference victory against DuBourg, which made its season debut.

“(Werner) just told us to spread things out and after that we played good defense and it led to good offense,” Collins said. “We took off. It felt really good after a slow first half to play the way we know we can.”

Collins scored 13 of her game-high 29 points in the third quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Hancock (3-0), which led 20-15 at halftime, went on a 15-0 run to build a 35-19 lead with 1 minute and 33 seconds left in the third quarter. Collins had all but two points in the outburst.

“We’re typically a better third quarter team,” Werner said. “Last year, that was the case. This year, through three games, our third quarter has been our best quarter. I think (Monday) we had our worst second quarter of the season so far. We knew what we had to do (defensively) to take care of business. We came out and we got it done.”

Sophomore guard DeAnna Haynes-McGinnest added 11 points to Hancock's winning attack.

Hancock is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2003-04, when it finished fourth in the Class 3 state tournament.

DuBourg was led by 17 points from sophomore Genesis Rhodes. Freshman guard Amie Byers, junior forward Gehaan Murray and junior guard Cydneye Phillips added five points apiece in first-year coach Alisha Robinson's first game.

“For this to be their first game, going through a pandemic and not knowing if they’re going to practice, not knowing when we’re going to play, I can’t fault their heart,” Robinson said. “You could feel it, their legs were getting tired in the second half. That’s what happens, though, when it’s just now our first game.”