ND teams show Delta no mercy

By Will Dickins
North Delta traveled to Delta Academy and defeated the Raiders, 36-24 varsity and 24-12 junior high.
ND 36, Delta 24
Twelve was the magic number as the varsity Green Wave beat the Raiders in a low scoring affair by 12 points.  A 2-3 zone and patient offense by the Green Wave held Delta Academy to 24 points on the night.
This effort started in the first quarter as the Green Wave kept them scoreless. While blanking them, North Delta scored five points.
The points came from an Avery Rowland three-pointer and Cole Devazier driving in for a layup later in the quarter.  For much of the night, Delta Academy settled for threes and long jump shots against the tight Green Wave zone.
This caused short possessions due to misses. This also allowed North Delta to rack up 34 rebounds from Delta Academy’s misses.  With this happening on defense, North Delta began to play keep away by holding the ball and waiting on an opportunity for a high percentage shot.
This strategy eventually wore down a defense that was lulled to sleep after having to play defense for long periods of time.  Similar to football, North Delta tried to wear down the Raider defense.
The second quarter had North Delta score 11 points compared to Delta Academy’s eight to continue to build a lead.  Rowland added another three while the Green Wave bench came through with six points to help on offense. The first half ended with the score standing at 16-8 in favor of the Green Wave.
Delta Academy recognized this strategy from the Green Wave and decided to carry their zone out towards half court.  This made North Delta move the ball away from the corners to stay away from double teams.  This strategy was to make North Delta speed up their offense.
The plan worked for some of the quarter as the Green Wave decided to settle for threes, which were not falling.
Also, Delta Academy could still not score against the Green Wave defense. North Delta kept them scoreless for six minutes before they finally scored five in the final moments. The score was now 25-16 North Delta.
The lead never got below nine for the Green Wave as their strategy stuffed Delta Academy to another low scoring quarter while the offense continued to chug along.  They finished with an 11-8 advantage to win 36-24 in a slow paced game.
Leading the Green Wave in scoring was Rowland with 10 points, three rebounds, two steals, and one assist.  Right behind him was Joseph Cox with nine points and seven rebounds.
Other scorers were: Chris Burchfield, two points, four rebounds, and one steal; Luke Lewis, two points, two rebounds, one steal, and three assists; Devazier, six points, five rebounds, two steals, and four assists; Nelson Howell, two points and three rebounds; and Alex Greenlee, five points, five rebounds and one assist.
NDJH 24, Delta 12
The Junior High used a good first half to outlast Delta Academy with a 2-3 defense that slowed down the game and forced them to move the ball and take jump shots.
The Raiders could not find breathing room in the first quarter only scoring three points. Offensively for the Green Wave, a balanced scoring effort garnered eight points to start a slow but patient offense.
Drake Barton, Colin Hartman, Walt Miller and Matthew Woods each had two points. The second quarter looked identical to the first with North Delta scoring eight points compared to Delta Academy’s three points.  This time, the Green Wave used threes from Miller and Hartman to go along with two points by Jordan Cox.  The first half ended with North Delta leading 16-6.
The second half started with scoring droughts from each team.  Each team went three to four minutes without scoring before each scored in the final minute of play.  North Delta kept the Raiders to only two points in the fourth quarter to cruise to the victory despite the scoring droughts in the second half.  This was partly due to an approach to keep the ball by North Delta.  They came away with the victory 24-12.
They host Lee Academy tonight starting at 3:30.