Nov. 22 marked Avon Lake’s season opener.

It also was the start of a bounceback season for Shoregals guard Olivia Tobin.

After coming off the bench last year, Tobin made an immediate impact on offense and defense — scoring 17 points and forcing turnovers to help Avon Lake to a 59-21 win over Lorain.

“(Contributing) felt really good, especially having a little bit of a disappointing season last year,” she said. “This year, I really wanted to come and have a better season. I think it was really good for me.”

Of her 17 points, 12 came from four 3-pointers. Lorain (0-1) hung in with Avon Lake for the first quarter, as the Shoregals led, 13-8, to start the second quarter.

“I said to (one of my coaches) the other day that there has been a couple of weeks in practice that I couldn’t remember the last time she missed,” Avon Lake coach Paul Appel said. “She is shooting the ball really well. It is a big factor if she is able to score the ball like this.”

Avon Lake proceeded to outscore Lorain, 43-5, in the second and third quarters, which initiated the running clock. Appel credited the defense, which also included five steals from Tobin.

“Our defense is the focus,” Appel said. “Wherever we go, we go out and defend. Our focus was to take away Jelynn Carrington, who is a really good offensive player. I thought for two to probably three quarters … we did a good job of that. We also wanted to take away Aminah Mustafa. We took away her. We wanted to live with Samone (Whitt) playing one-on-one with us.”

Carrington was held to eight points. Tobin was matched up against Mustafa and held her scoreless. Whitt led the Titans with 11 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Appel believes if Tobin can consistently shoot like she did against Lorain, it will have a tremendous impact to open the inside for slashers and post players. Avon Lake guard Bree Jones scored 13 points.

“When she is able to shoot like that it opens up everything for us,” he said. “It makes (opposing teams) play a little bit tighter and it makes them respect our scoring ability out there.”

Avon Lake felt good about its performance. Though its the first game of the season, it was nice for them to see the team come out with a 1-0 start.

“I think we did a lot of things well,” Avon Lake point guard Marisa Summerfield said. “On offense, we worked together to score and move the ball around. On defense, our biggest goal was to stop them on defense. Stopping them on defense turns into an offensive possession. I think we did a really good job shutting down (Lorain’s) two best players.”

Avon Lake’s next game will be at home against Brunswick (Nov. 27), and Lorain will start its Lake Erie League schedule Nov. 29 at Warrensville Heights.

“The ball sticks too much,” Lorain coach Brian Lynch said. “You’ve got to make a decision. Are you going to penetrate off the dribble, or are you going to pass or going to shoot? Where are your teammates? The ball has got to move. It is like what Avon Lake does. Ultimately, is what we need to do.”