OREGON — Senior Kendyl Darby knew she would be in for a significant leadership role with the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity basketball team this season. Entering her fourth season at the varsity level, Darby shined at the Oregon Tip Off Tournament this past weekend, when the senior forward earned All-Tournament Team honors while leading Rochelle to a trio of victories.

Darby scored a team-high 22 points and drilled three 3-pointers on Wednesday evening, when the Lady Hubs took the court against Amboy for their first official game of the 2024-25 season. Despite falling to the Clippers 59-47, Rochelle bounced back with a win over Genoa-Kingston on Friday before beating both Richmond-Burton and Ashton-Franklin Center on Saturday.

“It was a really good start to the season,” Darby said. “When I was younger, I’d see the girls get the All-Tournament awards and I always wanted one, so being a senior and getting it was really cool. Coach [Jon] Gehm told me before the season that I needed to step up and be a leader. It’s important for me to lead the younger girls and show them what to do and what not to do.”

Darby drained two triples in the second half on Wednesday evening, helping the Lady Hubs maintain a steady pace with Amboy, who led Rochelle 36-17 at halftime. The senior forward turned in seven fourth-quarter points, using her frame to take the ball down low and score in the painted area. The Lady Hubs made six 3-pointers in the game, with junior Carmela Bright hitting two for six of her eight points in the game. Rochelle held the Clippers to 23 second-half points.

“The first half was a feeling-out process,” head coach Jon Gehm said. “We had a lot of girls without varsity experience playing for the first time and Amboy is a veteran team who was a little more prepared than us. We were able to fly around in the second half and get into our 1-2-2 defense and our press, which energized us a bit. We had a really good inside presence and I thought Kendyl played a heck of a game. We’ll need to be able to play inside-out like that.”

Rochelle earned its first win of the season on Friday evening, with the Lady Hubs taking down Genoa-Kingston 49-44 behind a team-high 17 points from junior Jaydin Dickey, a returning starter from last season. Dickey converted three triples in the first half and showed poise from the free-throw line, going 8-for-10 in the win. Freshman Audrina Rodriguez added nine points, while Bright and senior Abby Metzger combined for 13 points to aid the Lady Hubs on Friday.

“Coach Gehm has asked Kendyl and I to step up and be leaders,” Metzger said. “It’s important for us and the other returning players to set an example for how we want to be as a program. We picked it up against Genoa-Kingston… Our main focus was our energy and our effort. We brought more energy onto the court and we were fighting for every ball. We wanted to win every possession and we tried to keep the ball in our hands so we could keep scoring.”

The Lady Hubs put an exclamation point on their tournament performance with a pair of wins on Saturday. Rochelle started the day with a 48-36 victory over Richmond-Burton to move into the ninth-place game. Dickey scored 13 points and went a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, while Darby totaled seven points, all of which came on free throws. Metzger finished with nine points and two players including Rodriguez and senior Payton Cesarone chipped in six points.

“I think we have a lot of talented players this year,” Metzger said. “We’re definitely younger than we were last year, but that gives us an advantage because we’re learning how to work together and we’re finding out who works best doing what. We’re having a lot of fun together.”

Rochelle dominated the ninth-place game against Ashton-Franklin Center, beating the Raiders 49-19 behind a combined 22 points from Dickey and Darby. Bright scored nine points, including six in the opening half, while junior Rose Luxton drained a pair of 3-pointers to aid the Rochelle offense. The Lady Hubs (3-1, 0-0 Interstate 8) will play at DeKalb on Monday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.

“We didn’t put our heads down and we stayed confident, even after the first loss,” Darby said. “We weren’t thinking negatively and I thought that was the best thing we did… I think we’ll have a good team and it’s nice to have new faces. I think we’re going to have a fun season.”