By Brad Greer

There are very few basketball teams that can go nearly 15 minutes without scoring a basket and still expect to win. The North Delta boys were almost that rare exception in their season opener Thursday night against Tunica Academy.

Greg Johnson connected on the front end of a one-and one free throw opportunity with 14 seconds remaining to give the Blue Devils a 32-28 lead. North Delta’s Jonathan Mackey rattled home a three-pointer at the buzzer but it was too late as Tunica came away with a 32-31 victory.

Zack Inman gave North Delta a 13-9 lead with 7:03 left in the first half. Those would be last points the Green Wave would score until Colby Pirtle’s basket at the 1:24 mark of the third quarter as Tunica had built a 26-15 lead.

“Was it that long? It seemed longer than that,” North Delta head coach Brad Wilson replied about the scoring drought.  “This was the first game for five brand new starters. They were real excited, but we finally settled down and gave a great effort tonight.”

Trailing 26-18 going into the fourth quarter, the Green Wave made a game out of it as Tyler Beard hit a three-pointer to close the Blue Devil margin to 26-21. Hunt Howell later drilled another three to make the score 31-28 with 23 seconds remaining.

North Delta had a chance to tie the game but turned the ball over with 16 seconds showing on the clock.
Tylor Lee led North Delta in scoring with eight points followed by Howell with six. Mackey added five while Pirtle chipped in with four. Other scorers included Beard with three, Inman, Renic Greenlee and Sam Copeland finished with two points each.

The Green Wave fell to 0-2 on the young season with a 44-28 loss to Oak Hill Saturday.

In the girls’ contest Friday, North Delta eased past Tunica 59-12. Laci DuBravec led the Lady Green Wave with 10 points. Bradi Beard followed with eight points while Hanna Greenlee, Julianna Morrow and Claire Gant added seven.

Charla Darby registered six points while Hannah Waldrip contributed with five. Hastings Neal added four. Callie Blake Masterson and Jordan Pullen scored two each. Katelyn Still rounded out the scoring with one point.

The Lady Green Wave fell to Oak Hill 44-39 Saturday despite 15 points and six rebounds by Beard. DuBravec added eight and Darby added six in the loss. Gant followed with five while Still and Greenlee registered three and two points each.

Both North Delta junior high teams came away with easy wins over Tunica as the girls won 49-4 following the a 40-14 victory by the boys club.

Anna Lloyd and Janie Brasell paced the Lady Waves with 10 points each. Megan Bollinger followed with eight points. Sarah Toole added seven and Madison McBride scored six. Ginger Stephens and Sarah Johnson chipped in with two points. Haley Lamm and Shelby Province finished the scoring with one point.

Ridge Simmerman and Hunter Baker led the junior high boys with nine points each. Bailey Sullivant followed with seven points. Will Kidder and Will Hartzell added six while Tripp Savage had two points.

North Delta will be back in action Tuesday, November 29 as they open District 1-AA play at Marshall.