By Brad Greer

After a lackluster 53-43 loss to Lake Cormorant Saturday afternoon, the North Delta boys basketball team was out looking for a little redemption Monday night against No. 5 ranked Tunica Institute. As it turned out, the result was just what the doctor ordered.

The home team came out with both guns blazing and after the smoke had settled the Green Wave had come away with a 67- 35 beatdown of the Blue Devils in a District 1-A battle. With the victory, North Delta improved to 5-3 in district play and 10-7 overall while league-leading Tunica fell to 13-5.

“Our pride was hurt after we lost Saturday. We did not look or play good. We wanted to come out tonight and turn things around against a very good Tunica club and play hard for four quarters. It was a total team effort the kids put forth and it just goes to show what hard work will do,” said Wave head coach Brad Wilson.

North Delta hit a sizzling 15-25 from the floor in the first half in a game that was basically over before halftime. Jim Tom Copeland and Taylor Herron combined for 14 points as the Wave raced to a 22-7 lead after the first period. Copeland finished the night with a team-high 17 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the floor while Geri Lamm followed with 16 points.

Lamm’s pair of free throws with 4:10 remaining in the first half gave the Wave a 27-10 lead. Tunica then closed the gap to 27-16 on the strength of Caleb McCoy’s six straight points, but that would be as close as the Blue Devils would get on the night as North Delta took a 36-20 lead at intermission.

Things only got worst for the visitors as the Green Wave went on a 13-7 run in the third period for a 49-27 advantage. Herron scored off an assist from Lamm followed by a Bateman Greenlee mid-range jumper with 2:33 remaining to make the score 47-27. In the fourth quarter, Corbin Baker canned a three-pointer with 6:39 left for a 58-29 Wave lead.

The biggest lead of the night came at 62-30  on Tres Brasell’s back-to-back baskets with less that three minutes remaining in the game. Brasell and Herron both finished the night with nine points each while Baker added eight. Greenlee and Bryan Nickle rounded out the scoring with four points each.

Varsity Lady Wave

   In the varsity girls contest, North Delta got 20 points, 10 tips, seven rebounds and six steals from Laci Dubravec in route to a 46-18 victory over Tunica. The Lady Wave also got a huge night from Sara Waldrip as the junior scored 11 points and pulled down 21 rebounds, six blocks and four steals.

  North Delta, (16-8; 4-4) took a 10-0 lead after the first quarter on Waldrip’s trey and a Linsey Herbert’s steal and uncontested layup. The lead quickly grew to 24-8 in the second period on Bradi Beard’s jumper and a pair of free throws by Dubravac. The Lady Wave took a 24-10 lead at intermission and outscored Tunica 22-8 in the second half.

   Tunica turned the ball over 30 times com paired to only seven for North Delta. Jordan Pointer, Beard and Hannah Waldrip each had four points while Herbert followed with two points and Samantha Massoth added one point.

   North Delta made it a clean sweep on the night as both the junior high boys and girls quads came away with victories. The Junior High Green Wave girls eased past Tunica 44-10 to raise their record to 20-1 on the season. Beard led the victors with 10 points followed by Hannah Greenlee with eight. Dubravec, Pointer and Julianna Morrow each contributed with four points. Charla Shea Darby and Hasting Neal added three points while Courtney Dubravec and Kendall Morrow scored two points.

    In the junior high boys contest, Renic Greenlee paced the Wave with 10 points in a 38-34 win. Timothy Polk followed with eight points followed by Bailey Guckert, Levi Garner, Luke Williams and Sean King with four each. Taylor Morris added three points while William Dean scored one point.