ND girls stun Indianola as buzzer shot was late

By Will Dickins
The Lady Green Wave erased a nine-point deficit late in the fourth quarter to stun Indianola Tuesday night. They hosted the Colonels from Indianola in district basketball action and came away with a 45-44 win.
Indianola was in the lead for the majority of the game and seemed to be in control.  North Delta struggled to find rhythm as it seemed like the Lady Colonels could not miss a shot, but the Lady Waves hung around.
North Delta leaned on a 1-3-1 defense for most of the game to confuse the opposing team.  The defense was working and forcing early shots, but Indianola continued to get offensive rebounds. These turned into second chance buckets.  Before long, the Green Wave were down by eight.
Ally Alford kept her team in it with 11 of the team’s 15 first half points.  Indianola had 23 to end the half.  In what was one of the lowest scoring halfs for North Delta, it all changed in the second half as they doubled their scoring total.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the score was 34-25 in favor of Indianola.  It was now time for Ema Cay Donaldson and Faith Bollinger to shine.  The team was down.  Fingers were being pointed, and excuses were thrown around from earlier in the game.  It was time to buckle down and win the game.  North Delta had a choice to make.  They did not give up.
It started with a three pointer by F. Bollinger early in the quarter.  She then got two more field goals.  They started to gain momentum.  Hustle plays on defense turned into easier offense and an excitement that had not been evident earlier on.  They saw their chance and took it.  Donaldson then got a steal with 1:41 left in the game and was fouled immediately.  The intentional foul resulted in two free throws for Donaldson and the Green Wave keep the ball. She made them count to bring the score to 40-37 Indianola.
Heart rates were high.  Everyone were on the edge of their seat.  North Delta had the ball with the clock ticking down.  As if cameras were capturing the next few moments for a movie, F. Bollinger caught the ball.
Swish.
She puts a shot up from the three-point line and it found its home.  It is now 40-40 with fans screaming and players smiling.
We had a tie ball game.
It was not over yet.  With blood pressure still high and life expectancy decreasing, Alford gots the steal and score to go up 42-40.  Indianola came back and tied before taking the lead 44-43 with 11.7 on the clock after each team traded free throws.
Donaldson gots the ball, raced towards the basket and misses, but is fouled.  The first one went in.  The second also finds the bottom of the net.
They had the lead with 5.1 seconds left.  Indianola raced down the court puts up a shot and missed.  They then get the rebound, put up a shot, and it goes in.  One referee is said she got it in before the clock ran out.  The other said no basket.  They meet in the middle and turned to the scorer’s table.  The referee waved his arm and says “no basket”.  North Delta pulled it off winning the game 45-44 as Indianola stood stunned.
NDJH girls 34, Indianola 11
The Junior High Girls basketball team beat Indianola easily as they cruised to a 34-11 victory after starting the game with a 13-0 first quarter.
They never looked back using a press and full court trap to create chaos into easy points.  North Delta was up and down the court all game.  Without ever looking up, they dominated.
Alford led all scorers with 17 points, same as varsity game, and seemed to do whatever she wanted.
The Lady Wave resume action Tuesday, January 10, hosting Saint Joseph starting at 3  p.m.