ND boys start out season hot

By Will Dickins
North Delta had an up and down game before eventually winning tby a comfortable margin, 50-25.
At one time, the Green Wave could not be stopped but looked out of rhythm at other times in the game.
The first quarter was North Delta’s biggest scoring period, but the game started with a tough stretch of misses from the Green Wave before finding a formula that worked.
The Thunderbirds came out in a 2-3 zone to try to keep North Delta out of the paint.  The Green Wave started to find open lanes to get points near the basket and found a rhythm.  Alex Greenlee paced North Delta with eight of their 17 first quarter points.  The first quarter came to a close with them leading DeSoto 17-6.
The second quarter saw DeSoto gain ground on defense against the Green Wave.  North Delta struggled to keep consistency on offense as the Thunderbird zone tightened.
The good news is North Delta’s zone to go along with their length advantage kept DeSoto to only four points.
The half came to a close after an all around sloppy and defensive second quarter with the score at 24-10.
Avery Rowland came out of the locker room with the hot hand to start out the second half.  He hit two three pointers out of the gate to spark the Green Wave.
The Thunderbirds could not find a way to penetrate North Delta’s zone, and the lead began to grow.  Before long, it was 36-17 in favor of the Green Wave.
They were able to coast to a victory in the fourth quarter.  The final score was 50-25 with the Green Wave defense showing dominance for the entire game.
North Delta’s size and length allowed them to control the paint for most of the game.  It earned them 37 rebounds and 12 steals.
Leading the Green Wave in scoring was Alex Greenlee who had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.  He also had two steals.
Behind him was Rowland with 10 points, three rebounds, and two steals.  Other contributors were: Eli Bryant, four points, three rebounds, and three steals; Chris Burchfield, two points and one rebound; Luke Lewis, four points, two rebounds, and two steals; Luke Daniels, five points and four rebounds; Nelson Howell, seven points, four rebounds, and one steal; Miles Garner, two points and four rebounds; and Joseph Cox, five points, six rebounds, one steal, and one block.
ND JH Boys 28, DeSoto 17
The Jr. High Boys had the closest game of the night in a come from behind win over the Thunderbirds.
North Delta fell behind early 10-5 in the first quarter before starting to cut into the lead in the second quarter.  The offense struggled in the first half going on long droughts without points but continued to be tough on defense.
The half came to a close with the score being a tight one at 14-10 in favor of DeSoto.
A different team came out in the second half.  Drake Barton made a basket to cut it down to a two-point lead before Collin Hartman banged in a three to take the lead for the first time in the game.
They did not look back from there with the score being at 15-14. After switching to man, North Delta would only give up three points for the rest of the game including zero points in the third quarter.
This 18-3 run catapulted the Green Wave to the win.  The leading scorers on the night were Walt Miller with 12 points and Hartman with 10.  Barton (4) and Jordan Cox (2) were the two other scorers on the night.
North Delta travels to Lee Academy (Arkansas) Friday night with the first game starting at 4 p.m.