The Lady Lancers were in the Christmas spirit, handing out 23 assists on 28 field goals to cruise to the victory in their Neshannock Holiday Tournament opener.

Tayler Grybowski and Madison McHale were credited with six assists apiece for Neshannock.

“I hate games like this,” said Lady Lancers coach Luann Grybowski, who doubles as Tayler’s mom. “It wasn’t a game from the beginning. I know they sat two or three starters, because they didn’t go to practice. I’m not sure how good they would’ve been. It’s hard. The good thing is everyone plays in a game like this and gets some varsity experience.”

Neshannock (9-0) will play District 10 power Cochranton (5-1) at 5 p.m. tomorrow in the championship game. Monessen (1-4) will play Ford City (3-4) in the consolation game.

“We didn’t play great defense,” Luann Grybowski said. “We need to improve. Saturday, we play a very good team in Cochranton. They rebound well. We need to step it up in all areas Saturday night.”

The Lady Lancers, who connected on 28-of-53 attempts from the field, jumped out to a 24-0 lead after the first quarter and increased it to 42-8 at halftime.

“Overall, we shot well,” noted Luann Grybowski. “We just didn’t shoot 3-pointers very well.”

McHale led Neshannock with a game-high 17 points, while Cassidy Burrelli registered 10 points, six rebounds and five steals. Tayler Grybowski notched eight markers and five steals.