By Brad Greer

The North Delta boys basketball team just cannot seem to catch a break.

After dropping a close 44-38 tilt to undefeated Indianola on the road Friday night, the Green Wave looked for their first win of the season as they hosted Oak Hill Saturday  afternoon.

North Delta clawed its way back from a 22-6 first quarter deficit to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but it was to no avail as the Raiders pulled away down the stretch  to take a 46-42 victory.

After Tylor Lee registered his only two points of the game with a turn around jumper that knotted the game at 40, Oak Hill’s A. J. Jones, who led all scorers with 21 points, hit a jumper to give the Raiders a 44-40 lead with 3:18 remaining in the game.

Sam Copeland knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the margin to 44-42. Jones then connected on two of four foul shots in the last minute of the game to seal the win for Oak Hill.

North Delta (0-7) trailed 29-20 at halftime before Hunt Howell helped rally the Wave in the third quarter hitting a pair of three-pointers to cut Oak Hill’s lead to 38-35 going into the fourth quarter. Renic Greenlee’s three early in the fourth period pulled the Wave within two points at 40-38 before Lee tied the game with his basket.

Howell’s 14 points led North Delta in scoring while Copeland and Greenlee followed with 11 and 10 points each. Luke Williams chipped in with five points.

In the varsity girls contest, Hastings Neal poured in a season-high 15 points to lead the North Delta Lady Green Wave to a 41-31 victory over the No. 6 ranked Oak Hill.

North Delta (11-6) trailed 21-19 at halftime, but outscored the Raideretts 22-10 in the second half.
Laci DuBravec and Bradi Beard nailed back-to-back three pointers to give North Delta a 27-23 lead midway through the third quarter.

Anna Ready later canned a three-pointer to pull Oak Hill within two points at 30-28. Neal however drained a trey at the buzzer for a 33-28 North Delta lead.

The Lady Wave defense put the clamps on Oak Hill in the fourth quarter by holding the visitors to one field goal and a free throw. North Delta held the Raiders’ leading scorer Tori Ellis to zero points in the second half.

Beard’s two free throws and Katelyn Still’s layup with 22 seconds remaining iced the game.

Beard added 11 points while DuBravec followed with eight. Still chipped in with four while Hanna Greenlee and Hannah Waldrip registered two and one point each.

In junior high action, Oak Hill took both games as the boys were victorious 43-28 while the girls outlasted North Delta 33-28.

Ridge Simmerman led North Delta with nine points followed by Will Kidder’s six. Bailey Sullivant and Tripp Savage added four while Will Hartzell and Hunter Baker contributed with two points. Russ Lewis rounded out the scoring with one point.

Anna Lloyd’s 14 points led the junior high Lady Wave in defeat. Janie Brasell added seven while Shelby Province registered six points. Haley Lamm finished scoring with two points.

In Friday’s action against Indianola, the North Delta Lady Wave improved to 2-1 in district play with a 33-25 victory.

DuBravec led in scoring with 11 points and five steals. Beard pulled down 14 rebounds to go along with six points and four assists. Charla Darby added seven points while Greenlee had a game-high six steals and two points. Claire Gant also finished with two points.

Howell led the North Delta boys with nine points while Greenlee, Copeland and Jonathan Mackey garnered seven points each. Zach Inman finished with two.