By Brad Greer

The first game of 2009 got off to a rather inauspicious start for the North Delta boys and girls varsity basketball teams as they were soundly defeated by visiting Delta Academy in a pair of District 1-A contests Tuesday.

In the first game, the No. 1 ranked Lady Raiderettes held the Lady Green Wave to 26 percent shooting in route to a 57-31 victory. Bliss Gurley lead the way for  Delta (16-7) with 19 points as the visitors jumped out to a 19-5 lead after one quarter and were never seriously threatened from there. Marley Schiele added 12 points in the winning effort.

In the nightcap, No. 4 ranked Delta received balanced scoring from Wesley Aldridge, Brent Moore and Trent Sinqufield as the Raiders eased past the Green Wave 59-38 to improve to 17-7 on the season. Aldridge led all scorers with 19 points while Sinqufield and Moore added 16 and 14 points each for the victors. Jim Tom Copeland led North Delta, (8-5) with 13 points as no other player scored in double figures.

In girls action, Delta raced to a 10- 3  lead in the opening minutes of the game as Gurley converted a layup after one of 10 first-half turnovers by North Delta. Schiele, Shelby Taylor and Katie Rushing drilled three-pointers as the lead quickly grew to 19-3 before Sara Waldrip put an end to the 9-0 run with a jumper in the closing minutes of the quarter.

North Delta could not buy a basket  as they shot a woeful 3-of-24 in the first half. Lauren Kimzey added a three-point basket in the first period while Waldrip connected on a trey in the second quarter to round out the scoring as the ‘Stangs took a 33-8 lead into the locker room.

The second half did not get any better for the home team as Delta put together another 9-0 run on a pair of inside baskets by Gurley and one of three treys in the period by Forrest Gurley to make the score 42-8. Bradi Beard scored seven of her nine points in the quarter while Waldrip connected on her second trey of the game as both accounted for the only scoring in the period.

Waldrip led North Delta (12-7) with 11 points while Kimzey followed Beard with six. Linsey Hebert added three and Laci DuBravec added two points.

Drew Schiele canned a three-pointer at the 5:51 mark of the first quarter to help jumpstart Delta to a 11-2 lead. A pair of baskets by Sinqufield and  John Cameron Corbin’s buzzer-beating three-pointer gave the Raiders a 21-4 advantage. Copeland and Bateman Greenlee scored the only two baskets for North Delta in the first eight minutes.

Sinqufield added two free throws midway through the second period that capped off a 16-4 run. Aldridge’s kiss off the glass gave the visitors their largest lead of the half at 33-10. Bryan Nickle canned a trey and added a pair of free throws in the stanza. Delta put the game away by going on a 7-2 run in the third quarter to expand their lead to 42-17.

Nickle followed Copeland with seven points while Taylor Herron added six. Corbin Baker, Greenlee, Tres Brasell and Carson Bailey each had two points.

The North Delta Junior High boys and girls squads did manage to salvage a split in the four game set by downing Delta with the boys winning 62-28 while the girls cruised to a 46-28 victory.

Laci DuBravec led the way for the Wave with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists. Hannah Greenlee pulled down 10 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals to go along with eight points. Jordan Pointer and Beard added seven points each while Katelyn Still had six points, five steals and dished out four assists. Hannah Waldrip contributed with four points while Julianna Morrow and Hasting Neal scored two points.

North Delta will return to action Monday afternoon when they host DeSoto (Ark.) in district action starting at 3:30 p.m. Friday, the Green Wave will travel to Marvell for a district matchup beginning at 3:30 p.m.