Hassinger, a senior, is averaging 18.6 points. She netted a game-high 21 in Tuesday's 44-40 win over the Braves, giving Delsea a leg up in its bid for a second straight Tri-County Royal Division title.
"She's a complete player now," Delsea coach Rob Briles said. "She's worked so hard at her offensive game. Last year, she could get to the rim. But she's tougher to guard this year because she can hit threes.
"It's tough to guard someone who can get to the rim with the explosion that she has and can also step back and hit an open three."
Hassinger insists defense remains her top priority. But through countless hours on AAU courts and in pickup games this offseason, she stayed focused on improving her shot "just because that's what our team needs this year," she said. "And every day now, I stay after practice and shoot because that's what I need to do to help the team."
Hassinger and 5-10 senior forward Tori Levari look like a formidable inside-outside combination for the Crusaders.
Levari netted 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Williamstown (5-1) in a battle of unbeaten teams.
"It's great when me and Tori are playing well because then it's 'Who do you defend?' " Hassinger said. "Tori feels the floor well, she moves great, and most of the time, I can get her the ball when she's open. And she's a great passer, as well."
Hassinger and Levari are the team's only returning starters. But Briles praised his entire team's work ethic and said he's priming it to make a run in the South Jersey Group 3 tournament.
"These kids are winners," he said. "And when it gets to crunch time, our kids usually find a way to win. It's not pretty, it's not always pretty basketball, but they usually find a way to get it done."
Finding itself. Through nearly five full games, all wins, Williamstown was a talented, balanced, deep team with young leaders, spearheaded by a superstar in the making in 5-11 freshman Haley Parks.
The best argument for the team's continued success is that the Braves (5-1) are still all of that - minus the superstar.
Parks, the team's leading scorer, was lost for the season when she tore an anterior cruciate ligament six minutes into the Braves' Dec. 29 win over Lenape.
Williamstown coach Karen Dilmore conceded that her team has to find a new identity. But that might not be as extreme as it sounds.
"Haley Parks was such a big part of this team," Dilmore said. "And for her to suffer that injury is tough. And it's been tough on all the kids. But we've been able to have balanced scoring this year.
"Right now, I think we're just going to need even more well-rounded scoring. And we need to get production out of everybody."
With the loss of Parks, Dilmore added, "we lost 12-15 points per game and we have to find those points in other players. It's time for our other players to step up."
Sophomore guard Taylor Walker and freshman forward Taylor Bynoe seem poised to lead that effort.
The two played major roles as the Braves lost, but made a statement, in a 44-40 setback against undefeated division rival Delsea on Tuesday in Williamstown's first game without Parks.
"Coming into that game, I had no idea how the team was going to play," Dilmore said. "For the kids to show up the way they did . . . it was very promising. We're going to be all right."
As for Parks:
"It's sad to know that I have to be out for the rest of the season," Parks said. "But I'm lucky that it's only my freshman year - I still have a lot of time ahead of me."
Contact Chris Melchiorre at rallysports@phillynews.com.
