North Delta continues to sweep opponents in early season action

By Will Dickins
The North Delta basketball teams traveled to Marianna, Ark. Thursday night to face Lee Academy. The Green Wave walked away with all four games that began with the Junior High Girls and ended with the Varsity Boys’ team.
NDJH Girls 38
Lee Academy, Ark. 8
Ten different Lady Green Waves scored to trounce the Lee Academy Cougars in Junior High action Thursday night.
Ally Alford jumped off to a hot start on the night with 12 of the teams 18 first quarter points with Blakely Denman adding four and Isabella Morrow with two.  They then gave way to a balanced attack in the second quarter consisting of Libby Miller, Carly Manus, and Griffin Rico to score 10 points.
With the game set at 28-6, the game was all over by halftime.   Sophie Williams (2), Miller (2), Sydney Talley (1), Ashlynn Melton (2) and Shelby Grace Boone (3) all put together the scoring for the second half total of 10 points to put away the Lady Cougars.  The game was a one-sided affair with North Delta winning 38-8.
ND JH Boys 38,
Lee Academy 18
The same could be said about the Junior High Boys’ game Thursday night with them winning 38-18 in a similar looking game.
The Green Wave scored 13 points in the first quarter on the shoulders of Walt Miller’s six that quarter.  With it being 13-2 at the end of the first, North Delta’s offense sputtered in the second quarter.
They only scored four points while letting Lee Academy find nine to allow the Cougars to keep it close 17-11 at half time.  North Delta found a little more rhythm on both sides of the ball in the third quarter as they had a 11-2 advantage.
The fourth quarter was much of the same with a 10-5 margin.  Scoring for the Green Wave was balanced between: Matthew Woods (2), Ryan Gibson (4), Jordan Cox (4), Miller (11), Layton Wells (2), Collin Hartman (5), Drake Barton (8), and Martin Wolfe (2).
ND Girls 40,
Lee Academy 28
The North Delta Lady Green Waves showed their defensive prowess once again with a 40-28 win over the Lady Cougars of Lee Academy.  The game was very close to the finish with North Delta using defense to steadily pull away from the Cougars late in the game.  They tallied up another night with big steal numbers (19) without having to press as much as the last time these two teams met.
The first quarter started very well for Faith Bollinger and the Lady Green Wave.  She had 10 points to gain the majority of the 11 points scored in the first quarter.  In the beginning of the game, North Delta struggled to find anything against the zone of Lee Academy.  Before long, Ally Alford stripped the ball and found F. Bollinger for an easy layup.
As has been the case for much of the young season, good defense has turned into great and easy offense for the Green Wave.  Speaking of defense, they gave up only two scoring opportunities to the Lady Cougars.  One was two free throws early on and was followed up by an and-one opportunity with only thirty seconds left.
With the score at 11-5 in favor of North Delta, the second quarter turned in to a back and forth defensive affair with each team putting up 13 points.
Ema Cay Donaldson and Payton Scott led the Green Wave scoring with nine points dispersed between the two.  Alford and Hannah Bollinger added two apiece to add up to the entirety of the points scored in the quarter.  The first half came to a close with the score at 24-18.
Like a bug flying around one’s ear, the Lee Academy Lady Cougars continued to hang around.  As the third quarter started, both teams struggled to score.  The good news for the Green Wave is that they kept Lee Academy to only two points.
They used the simple but efficient woman to woman defense to terrorize Lady Cougar scorers.  With offense looking like a distant relative, Donaldson stepped up with 2:18 left on the clock.  She hit two free throws before hitting a big three pointer (the first one of the season) to swing momentum in North Delta’s way.
The Donaldson five point swing allowed North Delta to have their first double digit lead of the game.  They used that momentum to catapult them to the ugly but needed win as they found themselves in the bonus early in the fourth quarter.  North Delta held back the surge from the Lady Cougars with five free throws and two Alford layups.
The leading scorer for tonight was Faith Bollinger who ended up with 11 points after leading the team in the first half.  She ended the night with seven rebounds and two steals to go with the points.  Following her were two 10 point outings by Alford and Donaldson.  Alford balanced her night out with eight rebounds and six steals. Donaldson added six rebounds and three steals.
Other scorers included: Hannah Bollinger, three points, five rebounds, and three steals; Payton Scott, four points and three rebounds; and Isabella Morrow, two points, two rebounds, and two assists.
ND Boys 44,
Lee Academy 16
North Delta destroyed Lee Academy Thursday night in the Varsity Boys game 44-16.  The 28 point victory nicely put together with a corrected and efficient Green Wave 2-3 zone that gave the Cougars fits all night.
North Delta used an unusual two three pointers from Cole Devazier and Avery Rowland to dominate the scoring in the first quarter.  Both teams struggled to find rhythm.  A three–minute long scoring drought occurred midway through the first quarter causing a low scoring 7-4 quarter with North Delta up by 3.
The second quarter started with yet another three by Rowland before North Delta settled in on offense.  With both teams in 2-3 zones, one would need to create ball movement to open lanes for scoring.
North Delta began to do that scoring seven points in the paint.  Needing more points late in the quarter, Devazier and Luke Lewis supplied a spark.
With the clock dwindling down, Devazier drove to the basket to pull Lewis’s defender down into the paint.
He then kicked the ball out to Lewis for a much needed open three pointer with nine seconds left to go in the half.  North Delta’s 13 points in the second quarter consisted of two more threes.
While the Green Wave offense began to find more rhythm, the defense continued to cause problems for the Cougars as they put up a blank in the quarter.
The players headed in to the locker room with the score at 20-4 North Delta.
North Delta came out of the half continuing to add to their lead.  Rowland scored nine of North Delta’s twelve points in the third quarter with Lewis stealing three from him.
They continued the same formula from the first half.  That was great defense and a patient and persevering offense.  They waited for an opportunity to attack before trying to capitalize.  They were seeking to find high percentage shots.  They did that in the third quarter, but used another two threes to score half of the points.
The final quarter saw the Green Wave pull away even more in what was an easy game from the second quarter to the finish.  With the game coming to a close, Ripkin Mitchell entered into the game.  He then swished a long jumper from the baseline and followed it up with hustle points on the other side of the floor by saving a ball from going out of bounds.  This effort capped off what was an easy win for the Green Wave.
The leading scorer was Rowland with 15 points, three rebounds and two steals.  It was fairly balanced behind him with: Ely Bryant, four points, three rebounds, and one steal; Chris Burchfield, four points;  Lewis, six points four rebounds and four steals; Luke Daniels, two points and five rebounds; Devazier,  five points and a team leading eight rebounds; Carter Gee, two points and one steal; Joseph Cox, four points, one rebound, and two steals; and Mitchell with two points.
All teams play again tonight at home starting at 4 p.m. against Delta Academy.