The area portion of the scheduled has come just in time for Velencia King and the Dallas County Lady Hornets.

King scored a season-high 34 points as the Lady Hornets opened their area schedule with a 66-41 win over the Jemison Lady Panthers at the Hornets’ Nest.

King scored 11 points in the opening period to help the Lady Hornets (3-5, 1-0 in area play) build a 17-6 lead they would not relinquish.

It was King’s first 30-point game this season after having two last year.

“There’s no question Velencia had a great offensive night,” Dallas County coach Roxanne Jones said. “She shot the ball well and we played great ball as a team.”

The Lady Hornets’ offense was keyed by a defense that anticipated Jemison’s every move on offense. The Lady Panthers had many of their passes aimed inside taken away, and the Lady Hornets also came away with numerous steals.

Trailing 4-3, the Lady Hornets got untracked on a steal by Samerra McGee, whose outlet pass found King for a running layup and 5-4 lead.

King followed that with a jumper from the foul line. She then put a move on the Jemison defense, faking right and moving back to her left and by two Lady Panthers for the layup and an 11-6 lead. King also had a pair of layups off two steals by guard Crystal Turk.

“We played great defense tonight,” Jones said. “We came out anticipating their passing and we worked to stop that.”

The more aggressive Dallas County defense, however, was whistled for 23 fouls, including 15 in the first half.

“We have to cut down on our fouls,” Jones said. “We had a lot of reaching-in fouls. We have to play aggressive, but we also have to play smart.”

The attacking Dallas County defense and offense continued in the second half with Whitley Moss draining a three-pointer to make it 38-17. The Lady Hornets led 51-26 after three quarters.

Takea Stewart added 10 points and Courtney Travis chipped in nine for the Lady Hornets.