Photo by Nick Henthorn Linsly’s Carla Sanchez passes from the wing during the Cadets’ road game Tuesday against the John Marshall Monarchs.

MOUNDSVILLE — There are hot starts, then there was the John Marshall Monarchs on Tuesday evening.

The Monarchs ripped off a 22-0 run to begin their home game against the Linsly Cadets inside the Monarch Fieldhouse, the early advantage putting John Marshall in the driver’s seat the rest of the way in a 66-35 victory.

Monarchs senior Rilee Storm put up a gaudy 30-point, 16-rebound double-double in a dominant display Tuesday.

Storm drained four 3-pointers against the Cadets and also recorded four steals.

While John Marshall afforded themselves plenty of leeway thanks to their opening salvo, the Cadets managed to cut the Monarch lead to as little as 11 points on a few different occasions throughout Tuesday.

It was that which John Marshall head coach Brock Melko was more focused on after the game.

“To start with a negative, once we built the lead, I think we just got very complacent and just kind of stopped focusing on the defensive end,” Melko said. “But yeah, I mean, we came out ready to play. We built the lead with our defense, created some easy baskets for ourselves, and then when we slowed down, it was because of our lack of defense. So it was good to see us kind of dial that back in during the second half.”

Linsly head coach Rebecca Upton wasn’t happy with her team’s start, but liked the fight she saw from her squad the rest of the way.

“Spotting anybody 22 points is never a good idea,” Upton said.

“It’s a story of who we are as a team. John Marshall is very seasoned. They have a lot of senior leadership. They have some very good, very talented players. And we’re young. We have one senior on the entire roster, and the rest of them are freshmen and sophomores.14 out of our 16 are new this year to Linsly. It’s just the difference in who we are at this point.

“I can’t say enough about how hard my kids fought. Despite getting down 22 to nothing, they didn’t roll over. You know, they keep fighting, they keep getting after things. They’re super positive. They stick together, they’re fun to be around. John Marshall’s just really talented right now. That’s who they are. We’re still trying to figure out who we are.”

Alejandra Fernandez scored eight for Linsly, adding four rebounds and three assists, while Vega Moragrega scored seven.

John Marshall outrebounded Linsly 36-24, with the Monarchs grabbing 15 offensive rebounds. Storm pulled down eight on her own, while both Paislee Babiczuk and Kaylee White each grabbed three.

Babiczuk scored 15 Tuesday and White scored 14. Babiczuk had eight total rebounds, while White had four rebounds and three assists.

Melko was impressed with what he saw from Babiczuk, the Monarch center.

“Not just rebounding– the last couple weeks, it hasn’t really showed in a game until tonight, but Paislee in practice has been just an animal,” Melko said. “She’s been dominating, so I was glad to see her get some points to show the work she’s been putting in. Because I mean, she always gets rebounds for us and plays physical, but if she can score like that consistently, which we know she can, that’ll add another dimension to us that’ll make us tougher to stop.”

John Marshall shot 42 percent from the field on 57 attempts, while Linsly shot 32 percent on 44 attempts.