Mustangs build toward breakthrough under DeLaney

For Claymont’s girls basketball team, the 2025-26 season could represent a sort of culmination of things. Now in their third year under head coach Alli DeLaney, the Mustangs know the system and have created some expectations.

Yes, Claymont was just 7-16 overall last year, 3-10 in the Inter Valley Conference That was with a young group that is mostly back and in many ways still young. DeLaney certainly has come to have expectations for what is really the only Claymont team she’s had.

“They are the same core group I’ve had for all three years,” the coach said. “They are great all-around kids. They typically don’t question much and will dive right into things.”

Ana Bloom and Makyah Maple are the graduates from the 2024-25 team, meaning DeLaney has a pretty veteran-stocked cast this year. 

Leading the way this year for the Mustangs is a foursome of seniors. The group includes guards Ava Edwards, Abby Johnson and Brittanie Connor, who all range from 5-foot-2 to 5-5. 

A fourth upperclassman, Abbey Lane Devore, has missed the season so far with a torn ACL. DeLaney expects Devore back sometime around midseason, which would give the team a bit of a spark if it needs one.

On the bigger end of the spectrum are 5-8 junior Aubree Cottrell, 5-8 junior Brinley Poland and 5-7 sophomore Jazlyn Beam. DeLaney said her rotation players all can play several positions, giving the coach a lot of possible combinations.

Another in the later group is 5-8 junior McKenna Rausch, who transferred from Indian Valley in the offseason. Rausch is really the only newcomer on the varsity roster.

Waiting in the wings and currently predominantly junior varsity players are sophomores Rylee Tarbert, Blake Cunningham and Alanna Menefee, and freshman Bella Boyd.

DeLaney said the year would be a good one for the Mustangs if “We can develop other players around Ava Edwards and take some pressure off of her. We’re looking to continue to increase our wins. The 12-14 range would be great.”

If the first half of the season is an indicator, Claymont is well on its way to hitting that range. The Mustangs’ most recent outing, a 43-29 conference win at Garaway, lifted them to 5-4 overall as season approached the midway point. That mark included a 1-2 record in the IVC. 

In that game, Edwards struck for 19 points, making all 11 of her free-throw attempts.

Showing what DeLaney wanted in terms of some balance, Connor, Johnson and Poland scored 6 points apiece. 

That, along with a hunger to win, is the kind of thing DeLaney wants to see from her group.

“The desire to compete, put things all together, work together to succeed,” she said. “We-over-me mentality. … Getting outside of comfort zones and believing in abilities. I think we get content or believe we can’t be a successful team, but they have put in work to do it.”