Lady Green Wave advances to state tournament

By Will Dickins
For the first time since 2012, North Delta Lady Green Wave basketball advanced to the state tournament round.
The Lady Wave advanced to the State tournament after beating Winston Academy 47-32 Wednesday night. Winston was ranked fourth best in the state at 27-6 by the Clarion Ledger.
The Lady Wave moved on to face Manchester Academy but lost in overtime 42-41. They then played the consolation game for third place against Leake Academy and fell 69-32.  The top four teams advanced to state with North Delta as the fourth team.
The win against Winston Academy was a big one, and North Delta made it look easy.  After a first quarter that was close, North Delta pulled away, leading by 17 at one point, while showing their dominance.
Ally Alford had 21 points to lead the team.  Hannah Bollinger stepped up and made shots when needed ending up with 10 points of her own.
North Delta changed their game plan defensively as they did not play much 1-3-1 zone or play in much full court press. They played a man-to-man defense and forced Winston Academy to beat them.  Winston Academy was not up to the challenge and could not find easy shots against the Lady Wave’s smothering defense.
North Delta fought through screens and boxed out their opponent taking away the extra chances.  When the pace sped up, it helped the Green Wave even more. They began hitting shot after shot while getting multiple stops.  Before long, the score went from 15-12 to 37-20.
The tough attitude showed to be enough to out hustle and out play their opponent as North Delta cruised to a 47-32 win. Winston Academy did not know what hit them as they were stunned by the young and upcoming North Delta Lady Wave.
This sent the Lady Green Wave to the semi-final game against Manchester Academy.
On the tail end of a big win, North Delta showed no hangover taking Manchester Academy to overtime before eventually losing 42-41 in a heartbreaker that sent them to a consolation game with Leake where North Delta lost 69-32.
The first half had four lead changes as an indication that this game was going to go to the wire.  Alford had 15 points in the first half and found most of her second quarter points by taking advantage at the charity stripe as North Delta entered the bonus.
Manchester used their size with lobs down into the paint as well as shooting long jumpers in hopes of getting an offensive rebound. Size showed to be just enough of an advantage in the end, but the first half ended with Manchester Academy winning 26-23.
North Delta found themselves down 30-23 early in the second half, but found a way to climb back with a run in the middle of the third quarter where an Ema Cay Donaldson three-pointer tied it at 30-30.
With clock running expiring, Alford drove in for a layup to put North Delta up by two at the end of the quarter.
Both Alford and Donaldson were named to the All-Tournament team.
Manchester Academy rallied back in the fourth, and both teams found themselves tied at 38-38 in the closing seconds of the game.
North Delta had multiple opportunities with the ball late but could not find a way to get the game winning basket.  With seconds waning away, Manchester heaved a ball to half court. Alford intercepted then heaved up a last second desperation shot and saw it miss by centimeters.  The game went to overtime.
The overtime period, North Delta scored two points in the first two minutes of overtime but could not find a way to score more than one more free throw afterward.
Manchester found their points with two free throws and a layup.  Both teams missed free throws that would have sealed the game.
Manchester used a layup by another lob into the paint with just over a minute left to go up 42-40.  North Delta could only hit one more free throw as they fell just short.
Their season is not over yet as they play tomorrow at 4 o’clock at Kirk Academy versus Bowling Green out of La.  If they win, they have a chance at a rematch with Manchester.