Led by a big performance from Ariana DeLaSalle, who had 22 points, the ACCS Lady Rebels took out Tensas Academy 60-42 Thursday night at home.

First-year Lady Rebel coach Chuck Bauerle was taking on his old team for the third time this season, and he said feelings will always come up in such a situation.

“Oh yeah, you feel a little strange seeing girls you used to coach on the other side,” Bauerle said. “But this is the third time we’ve played them this year, so it’s a little less now. You want to win, but you also want them to have a good game.”

ACCS (13-2) jumped out to a 13-4 lead before the Lady Chiefs made things interesting for a while.

Mary Miller Ratcliff drove to the basket for two points and was fouled to cut the lead to 13-8, then missed her free throw, grabbed her own rebound and hit a jumper to pull Tensas within three.

The game would never be that close again.

When the Lady Chiefs pulled to within four at 22-18 midway through the second quarter, the Lady Rebel full court press kicked in in earnest, setting up a 12-2 run that put the game into double digits before halftime. The two teams went into halftime with ACCS leading 36-24.

“We started out kind of slow,” Bauerle said. “We gave them too many lay-ups in the first quarter and part of the second quarter, but I felt like our press got to them right before halftime.”

A DeLaSalle three-point play midway through the third quarter pushed ACCS’s lead to 21 points at 52-31, and the fourth quarter featured whole-sale substitutions.

Katie Anne Swinny scored 10 points for ACCS. Ratcliff led Tensas with 14, and Kaitlen Emfinger had nine points.

“Ariana and Katie played very well tonight,” Bauerle said. “We missed a few chip ins, but over all we shot the ball OK. Hopefully we didn’t wear ourselves out, because we’ve got Silliman (tonight).”

In playing his old team, Bauerle said he did have to put a few considerations into how the game played out.

“Their two guards, Mary Miller (Ratcliff) and the Emfinger girl, I coached them,” he said. “You want to win, but they want to win, too. Of course, I still live up there, so I can’t make too many enemies.”