LAKEVILLE, IN. - It's a basketball night in Lakeville! Riding the wave of a seven-game winning streak, LaVille Lady Hoops is set to square off against 2A No. 12 Pioneer in a Hoosier North Athletic Conference battle. The girl-boy HNAC doubleheader is set to be played on December 16 in both Dale E. Cox Gymnasium and the Auxiliary Gym. The varsity girls open the night against Pioneer at 6:30 p.m. inside Cox Gymnasium. Also at 6:30 p.m., the junior varsity boys will meet the Panthers in the Auxiliary Gym. Around 8 p.m., the varsity boys will face PHS inside Cox Gymnasium, while the JV girls play in the Auxiliary Gym at approximately 8 p.m. It will be coach Nicholas Amor's third game against a state-ranked opponent so far in 2022-23. LaVille upset then 2A No. 10 South Central on Nov. 5. Then, on Nov. 30, the Lancers upset then-1A No. 8 Triton. LaVille is 9-2 overall (2-0 in HNAC) after a 51-18 victory over South Bend Riley on Dec. 14. Lucy Sherk led the Lancer offense with 20 points. Lily Smith had eight points, Brooke Edison six, London Kwiatkowski six, and Mikalah Kuskye five for LHS. Pioneer is 8-2 overall (2-1 in HNAC) following a 41-31 HNAC loss to 1A #3 Caston on Dec. 13. Ashlynn Brooke leads the Panther offense with a 26.2 point per game average. She also fills the stat box with 6.2 rebounds per game, 5.4 assists per game, and 4.0 steals per outing. Kylie Attinger adds 9.2 ppg and 6.9 rpg, while Brittany Borges chips in 8.2 ppg and 4.7 boards an outing. "Pioneer will mainly run their offense through their best player - #15 Ashlynn Brooke. She is averaging about 26 points per game and she is their go-to offensive option. They have a couple nice post players #25 Kylie Attinger and #24 Brooklyn Borge. Brooke has really great vision as well as being able to score, so we have to play great 1 v. 1 defense and help side rotations have to be key. The Panthers defeated LHS 72-29 a year ago. Brooke led all scorers with 27 points. Lucy Sherk led the Lancer offense with 14 points. "Pioneer will run a 2-1-2, a 2-3, a 3-2, and a man to man on defense," said Amor. "Offensively we have to be ready for multiple defenses. So mentally preparing for those, and understanding our gaps that we're looking for within each of them." Pioneer is averaging 55.1 points per game and 44.7 on defense. LaVille's offense brings in a 43.4 average, while the defense is among the best in the state so far this season at 27.7 ppg. "Our biggest contributing factor to our defense is each player's tenacity both on and off the ball," Amor said of the Lancer 'D'. "They just get after it, and part of being successful on defense is being able to trust that when you put pressure on someone, your teammates are going to be there to help. You trust that when you go to help, someone else is going to help the helper. That is where I feel we have done a really good job on our rotations. And it shows. If you can't trust your teammates, it's hard to put pressure on ball handlers and our girls are building that trust more and more with every game." Game On . . . GAMEDAY Teams: 2A #12 Pioneer (8-2) at LaVille (10-2) Site: Dale E. Cox Gymnasium, LaVille HS Time: Varsity - 6:30 p.m. * JV: 8 p.m. Coaches: Jeff Brooke (109-53 in seventh year at Pioneer). Nicholas Amor (10-2 in first year at LaVille) Last Outing: Pioneer lost to 1A #3 Caston, 41-31. LaVille defeated South Bend Riley, 51-18 Series Since 2000-01: Tied, 4-4 Last Meeting: Pioneer defeated LaVille, 72-29, Dec. 17, 2021