Lockport‘s girls basketball team won 28 games and a regional championship last season.

Although some key players graduated from that team, the Porters opened this season with a 50-27 win over Morris on Monday night.

Evelyn Ingram, Addison Way and Katie Peetz are three players that either started or saw significant playing time last season and are returning this year. Ingram led all scorers Monday night with 17 points, while Way had 13 points and Peetz had a game-high seven rebounds to go with six points.

The Porters got out of the gate quickly, using a tough pressure defense to help build a 9-0 lead before Morris’ Alyssa Jepson got her team on the board with a free throw at the 4:58 mark of the first quarter. By the time the quarter ended, Lockport had forced nine turnovers and built a 24-5 lead as all five starters had at least a basket.

Lockport coach Darien Jacobs sat his starters for most of the second quarter, and Morris was able to outscore the Porters 8-3 to go into halftime trailing 27-13.

“We’re still trying to figure out how to build our chemistry with everybody,” Ingram said. “It helps that I have been playing with some of these girls since we were in about third grade. We had a great year last year, but we are looking to make our own mark this year. It’s great to start the season off with a win.”

Ingram opened the second half with a basket off an assist from Peetz. Laura Arstikaitis then assisted on a basket by Way before Ingram hit a pair of free throws for a 33-15 lead. Ingram assisted on a basket by Way before Peetz scored to give the Porters a 37-15 edge. Morris scored the next six points - three by Tessa Shannon (nine points) and an old-fashioned three-point play by Lily Hansen (team-high 11 points) to make it 37-21, but Ingram ended the third quarter with a basket to give the Porters a 39-21 lead entering the fourth.

“This was a nice first game for us,” Jacobs said. “We were able to get everyone in the game, which is nice because we are still looking for what our best lineup is.

“It’s nice to have players like Addison, Evelyn and Katie coming back. Addison did a little bit of everything for us last year, but we are looking for her to be the go-to shooting guard this year. She’s one of those players that just does whatever the team needs her to do to win. What really stood out for me for Evelyn tonight was her defense. She was very alert and active on the defensive end, and she gets out and runs the floor very well. I’m excited to see how we develop.”

After struggling with the Porters’ early pressure, Morris was able to figure things out and get its offense working in the final three quarters.

“It’s going to be a process,” Morris coach Mike Lutz said. “It’s going to take 8-10 games, about the first third of the season, for us to get everything figured out. Lockport is a very good 4A team and a good way to start that process.

“I was happy with how hard the girls played on defense. They never quit and gave it their best effort. There were some good signs tonight. Tessa was very aggressive going to the basket, Lily Hansen went up strong a few times. Those are things we are going to continue to need this season.”