By Brad Greer

North Delta head girls basketball coach Phil Douglas knew Saturday’s matchup against division foe Marshall would be physical, but little did he know how bad it would get.

“It was a war out there. That is about as nice of a way as I can put it. Put it like this, three of my girls were at the sports rehabilitation clinic Sunday afternoon getting checked out,” said Douglas.

To make matters worse, North Delta played without the services of leading scorer Bradi Beard who was held out of the game due to an illness. But in the end, it would be the North Delta defense that would save the day as the Green Wave held Marshall to only two field goals in the second half in route to a 34-25 victory.

“I could not have been more pleased with the way our girls competed out there tonight,“ said Douglas.

With Bradi out, there was some big shoes to fill out there. I mean, your talking about not having your leading scorer, assist leader and leader in steals not on the court. It was tough, but Hanna Greenlee done an outstanding job on the boards as did Sara Waldrip, Madison Greenlee, Laci DuBravec and the rest of the team. It was a great team effort,” said Douglas.

   North Delta,(17-10; 4-2 in district) trailed 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, but out-scored the Patriots 9-3 in the second period as Madsion Greenlee and DuBravec drained three point baskets to give the Wave a slim 16-13 lead into the lockerroom

 Linsey Hebert knocked down a three pointer early in the third to expand the lead to six at 19-13, but Marshall answered back however with five straight points from Kelly Clanton to close the gap to 19-18 with less than two minutes remaining in the period.Waldrip then scored five straight points to close out the quarter and give the Wave a 25-18 advantage.

  After Marshall closed the gap to 25-21 on Kelsey Shaw’s trey, DuBravec drilled a three pointer followed by a Madison Greenlee basket gave the home team a 30-21 lead with 3:26 left in the contest. Waldrip and Greenlee would later add a pair of freethrows to ice the game for North Delta.

   DuBravec’s nine points led the Green Wave in scoring while Waldrip followed with eight points and 12 rebounds. Madsion Greenlee added seven points and six boards. Lauren Kimzey and Hebert chipped in with three points each. Hanna Greenlee dished out four assists to go along with five rebounds and two points while Kourtney Norris added a basket.

  In the nightcap, sophomore Jordan Wyke scored a game-high 25 points on seven three-pointers to help guide Marshall to a 60-48 win over North Delta.The Patriots connected on 10-of-16 from beyond the arch and shot 22-of-43 from the floor to take over first place in the District 1-2A standings with a 5-1 record and 16-6 overall. The Green Wave fell into a second place tie with West Memphis at 4-2 in the league and 11-7 overall. North Delta travels to West Memphis today starting at 3:30 with junior high action.

   After an entertaining first quarter that saw five ties and three lead changes, Marshall went on a 10-1 run the the second quarter to take a 25-16 lead. Wyke then knocked down back-to-back treys to give the visitors a 31-19 advantage. North Delta then made a run of their own as Chris Brown reeled off eight straight points to close the margin to 33-30 with 1:24 left in the half. The Patriots answered back to take a 38-32 lead at intermission on Jake Omadeo’s trey and Jordan Brock’s layup off of a fast break ended the half.

   Marshall ex paned the lead to 44-32 early in the third quarter on a pair of three pointers by Wyke. North Delta made its last run late in the period on Bryan Nickle’s runner in the lane cut the Patriot led to 49-42, but that would be as close as the home team would get on the evening.

   Jim Tom Copeland and Brown each had 14 points to lead North Delta in the scoring column. Nickle followed with eight while Derrick Shawn chipped in with five. Gerri Lamm registered four points and Corbin Baker finished with three.

   Both North Delta varsity teams got the weekend off to a good start by recording impressive road wins at Carroll Academy Friday night.

   Led by Copeland’s 19 points, the Green Wave blasted the home team 83-54 while the Lave Wave completed the sweep with a 58-26 victory.

  Lamm followed Copeland with 16 points while Baker added with 13. Nickle registered eight while Baily Gurkert and Shawn added seven. Ethan Frink contributed with five points while Brown and Matthew Barefoot closed out the scoring with four and two points each.

   Hebert and Waldrip led the ladies in victory with 11 points  while DuBravec added ten points.Beard followed with eight points and five assists. Kimzey added five points while Norris and Madison Greenlee four and three points each. Hannah Waldrip, Crystal Contreres and Jordan Pointer closed out the scoring with two points.