Green Wave falls to Delta Academy

By Will Dickins
North Delta fell to Delta Academy in a tightly contested game for the second time this season, 59-56.
As the end drew near on a night that saw two teams battle it out in a very entertaining game, one team made free throws while the other failed to make the plays when they were needed the most. The latter happened to be the Green Wave.
After playing with the passion that Coach Will Florence has instilled into his team, the game came down to a handful of possessions late in the game. With 22 seconds left, Delta Academy went to the free throw line for a chance to possibly seal the game after Colin Hartman drained a clutch three to pull within one point.
Hartman was six of seven from the charity stripe on the night. His one miss came on the front end of the one and one to put the game away. Unfortunately, North Delta was unable to capitalize on the opportunity.
There were many positives on the night, but the last four minutes in the game proved to be the period that would claim most thoughts about the night. With 4:07 left in the game, Cole Devazier took an offensive rebound to the basket for two points. They would not score until Hartman’s three pointer with 30 seconds left.
Part of it was because the Raiders held the ball, but the Green Wave had their chances. The team is very close to putting these type games in the win column. The foundation is set. They look comfortable in the different defenses that are run. The offense has also opened up with Walt Miller and Hartman in the corners as deep range threats which open up lanes for other players.
North Delta had 13 assists. Devazier had six of those. This showing revealed the desire to win from a team that is tired of losing. They showed promise. If the ball had rolled a different direction a few times, the story would be different. However, they came just short.
The Green Wave leaned on four players for offense tonight. Hartman had 22 points on six threes. Alex Greenleee continued his successful season with 13 points. Miller (11) had three threes and Devazier (8) ran the offense as usual. They will try to get on track against DeSoto at home December 15th.
NDJH 32, Delta 31
The North Delta Junior High team squeezed by Delta Academy 32-31 in their game that also went down to the very last possession. It came down to two plays.
With 22 seconds left in the game, Delta Academy was up 31-29. Only needing to bleed out the clock and get fouled, they allowed the one thing that could not happen to happen. The one thing a player is supposed to do in this situation is not turn the ball over. They turned the ball over.
Ryan Gibson put himself in the right position to grab the ball. He then looked up and saw Drake Barton sprinting to the basket and heaved it towards him. Barton received the pass and laid the ball in the basket to tie the game.
Still, they had to play defense. Just like they had all game, they succeeded in doing that. They were able to get the ball back with four seconds left. As they were trying to inbound the ball, a defender touched the ball when it was still in Gibson’s hand as he was trying to inbound the ball. By rule, this was a technical foul.
With 3.6 seconds left in the game, Gibson hit one of two free throws to go up by one point. Even though it was won in weird fashion, the Green Wave turned up the volume when they needed it most and came away with the win 32-31.
Gibson had one of his best games of the year with an aggressive approach in the second half. He drove to the basket at will for a total of 15 points total on the night. Carter Rinehart dominated the post in the second half as well to help lead the team with 12 points.