Lady Green Wave win big/ND boys lose to Marshall

By Brad Greer

With three district games slated for the upcoming week, the North Delta Lady Green Wave were looking to shake off a week’s worth of inactivity due to recent winter weather.
What they got was a tough, physical game from visiting Marshall Academy on Saturday which saw North Delta come away with a 56-51 victory.
Ally Alford led all scorers with 25 points as the No. 3 ranked Lady Wave improved to 18-2 on the season. North Delta hosts Lee Academy today before traveling to Bayou on Thursday and Kirk on Friday. All three games are set for a 3 p.m tip off.
North Delta looked to have the game well in hand as an Alford basket gave the Wave a 50-39 lead at the 3:15 mark, but Marshall showed they weren’t going away just yet.
Led by Erin Lomenick’s 3 pointer and an Alexis Mcgregor basket, the Lady Patriots went on a 12-2 run to close the margin to 52-51 with 28 seconds remaining.
Following Alford’s two free throws with 16 seconds left, Marshall gained possession on an out of bounds call with 4.7 seconds to set up a potential game tying shot, but Alford picked off the pass and was fouled on the play.
The freshman proceeded to knock down two free throws that sealed the victory.
North Delta looked to pull away from a 24-23 lead at halftime by out-scoring Marshall 16-6 in the third quarter.
Consecutive baskets by Faith Bollinger and Maci Kirkland off two inbound plays gave the Lady Wave a 40-29 cushion after three quarters.
Emy Cay Donaldson, who followed Alford in scoring with 11 points, drained a 3 pointer with 55 seconds left in the first half to give North Delta a one point cushion at intermission.
Marshall jumped out to an early 8-2 lead on back-to-back treys from McGregor before North Delta answered with five straight points to close the margin 8-7.
The Lady Patriots grabbed their largest lead of the contest midway through the second quarter at 23-19 by going on a 7-0 run.
Faith Bollinger and Kirkland chipped in with six points for North Delta while Hannah Bollinger and Mary Emily Morris added four each.
The Lady Wave connected on 23-of-44 shots from the floor and 9-of-12 from the free throw line. Marshall knocked down eight 3 pointers on the day.
(B) Marshall, 56 North Delta-40
Marshall had three players in double figure scoring as the Patriots led from start to finish.
Walt Miller paced North Delta with nine points while Alex Greenlee followed with eight. Other Green Wave who got into the scoring included Cole Devazier, (six), Carter Gee (five), Ben Rowsey (four), Miles Garner (three), Collin Hartman and Ripkin Mitchell (two) and Ryan Gipson (one).
(JH Boys)
Marshall 44, North Delta 37
North Delta rallied from a 25-7 halftime deficit to pull within three points twice in the final minute but could not get any closer as the Patriots came away with the victory.
Ryan Gibson led the way for North Delta with 17 second half points. Carter Rinehart followed with nine. Drake Barton chipped in with six while Blaine Sanders finished with three. Curt Dungan and Layton Wells added one each.
(JH Girls)
North Delta 37, Marshall 25
Ally Alford paced the Lady Waves to the win with 11 points, all in the first quarter. Ellie Gray followed with 10 points while Sophie Williams registered seven. Griffin Rico added three points while Shelby Grace Boone and Sydney Talley contributed with two points each.