The New Castle High girls basketball team put on a show last night for former standout Lorri Johnson.

The Lady ’Canes netted a school-record 44 points in the opening quarter in a 66-20 WPIAL Section 2-AAA win over Center.

New Castle (2-0 section, 10-0 overall) is ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL in Class AAA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Prior to the game, New Castle honored Johnson, who is the school’s all-time leading girls scorer. Johnson, who played just three years because she tore her ACL and missed a season, ranks second all-time in the county in scoring with 2,110 points. Ellwood City Lincoln’s Anne Malkowiak is the county’s all-time girls scoring leader at 2,370 markers.

“It was a nice way to honor Lorri,” said first-year New Castle coach Jason Rankin. “She was such a great player here and put up incredible numbers.”

The first-quarter barrage propelled the Lady ’Canes to a commanding 44-3 lead.

“We played ferociously,” Rankin said. “A lot of times we’ll size up a team and play to that level.

“I was happy with the fact we came out hard from the tip; that’s a step in the right direction.”

LaShauna Brothers registered a game-high 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. She added five rebounds, five steals and five assists. Kaylynn Waters chipped in with 12 markers and five steals.

“LaShauna has been playing real well,” Rankin said. “She’s starting to see how well-rounded she can be as a player.”

The Lady Trojans (0-2, 2-7) committed 38 turnovers, 33 of which came in the first half.