MILLBURY — Lake senior Delani Robinson scored 31 points and set a new career record for three-point goals
as the Flyers held off Woodmore, 72-60, in a pivotal Northern Buckeye Conference matchup Tuesday.
Robinson hit three shots from behind the arc to surpass the record of 155 treys previously set by Kaysie
Brittenham (2007-11). Robinson is now at 156 and counting.
“It feels great. I honestly didn’t even know I was breaking it,” Robinson said. “It is just an
accomplishment I’m happy to do with my team.”
Robinson hit two back-to-back treys early in the first quarter, and she was already in double figures
just five minutes into the game as the Flyers raced to an 18-7 lead.
She got her record-breaking three with 3:27 remaining in the game, which capped off a 10-0 run and took
Lake from leading by one, 52-51, to in command at 62-51.
She had burst onto the scene during Lake’s Division III regional tournament run her sophomore season and
has not stopped shooting since.
She says shooting is a natural skill that did not start during her youth on a driveway basketball court.
“There wasn’t a basket at home until last year,” Robinson said. “It just came naturally to me since my
sophomore year. My freshman year I shot a little bit, but my sophomore year it just started clicking.”
Lake coach Joe Nowak says that Robinson earned getting her name in the school’s record book.
“To Delani’s credit, she put in a lot of work,” Nowak said. “She played JV her freshman year, dressed
varsity but didn’t see a lot of time. But then she’s put in a lot of work since then to get to where she
is.
“You’re talking about a girl who eats, sleeps and breaths basketball. She was always looking for ways she
can get better.”
Robinson has also become a leader for her teammates, says Nowak.
“She needs some motivation from time to time, like everybody does, but it’s great having a player who
will put in the work as an example for the other girls, too,” Nowak said.
“But then she’s not quiet either. She’ll make sure she’ll talk to the other girls and make sure everybody
is getting held accountable.”
If Woodmore had won Tuesday, it would have meant the Woodmore, Lake, Elmwood and Eastwood all would have
had two league losses, putting them in a near-virtual tie.
By winning, Lake holds onto sole possession of first place at 10-3 overall and 7-1 in the NBC, while
Woodmore falls to 8-4 and 5-2.
The first time the Wildcats and Flyers met, Lake won 70-65 in overtime, but the Wildcats also have wins
over Eastwood (46-43) and Elmwood (51-41)
“We knew it was going to be a tough game playing against Woodmore,” Nowak said. “It was a tough game the
first time we played them, too.
“I think that Woodmore team is a better team now, just like most teams are, compared to early on in the
year, coming in after knocking off Elmwood and then Eastwood.”
In Tuesday’s game, there were 121 shots from the field, 53 free throw attempts and 48 turnovers — the
Wildcats had 29 turnovers and the Flyers had 19.
Robinson was not the only player scoring in big numbers, either. Lake 6-foot senior Taryn DeWese had a
double-double 13 points, 14 rebounds and four steals, and senior Ava Ayers had 11 points, five rebounds
and four steals.
Woodmore junior guard Macey Bauder had 22 points and eight rebounds and 6-foot-1 senior post Camryn Ivy
had 15 points and 11 boards.
The problem for the Wildcats, like any Lake opponent, is handling the Flyers’ relentless full court
defensive pressure, which never stops, but leads to plenty of game stoppages for fouls, turnovers, and
you name it.
“We knew it would be a physical game. Our expectation was it was going to be physical play, speedy play,”
Woodmore coach Kyle Clair said.
“They picked up the pressure and I think we made some poor decisions early and we got down, but the
positive we’ll take from this is we battled back and cut it to one and gave ourselves a chance.”
Lake shot 38% (26-for-69) from the field, 55% (12-for-22) from the line, and Woodmore shot 38%
(20-for-52) from the floor and made 16-of-31 free throws (52%).
For Lake, sophomore Sydney Stanley scored five points, junior Elise Staczek scored four points, sophomore
Vayda Delventhal had three points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Senior Kelsie Gladieux scored three points and senior Brigid Enright added two points for the Flyers.
For the ‘Cats, senior guard Sophie Blausey had 10 points and six rebounds and senior guard Sydney Wank
had five points and three steals.
Junior guard Jordan Beam had three points and four steals and junior guard Alayna Hahn had three points
and three steals for the Wildcats, and freshman Kara Schneider had two points. The Wildcats had a 47-40
advantage off the glass.
Nowak and Robinson believe that winning games like this are vital to a successful season.
“We knew that we needed to be on our game and do things right,” Nowak said.
“There were some things in our last two games that we just did not flat out do very well and we tried to
focus on that at practice and get better at that. To the girls’ credit, we did execute the things we
worked on.”
Robinson learned how hard it is to win big games during her team’s regional semifinal loss to
Ottawa-Glandorf her sophomore year.
“Honestly, it’s just teamwork. Just because we set one goal, once we reach that goal doesn’t mean we can
stop,” Robinson said.
“We’ve got to keep pushing, doing our own thing and accomplishing what we need to accomplish.”
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