North Delta upends Oak Hill at Kirk Invitational
Southern Sports & Travel
North Delta seniors Bradi Beard and Laci DuBravec combined for 33 points and drained six 3-pointers between them as the eighth ranked Lady Wave topped fifth ranked Oak Hill 51-47 in round one action of the Forty Second Annual Kirk Invitational Tournament in Grenada last night.
Last night’s battle could be a preview of the type of basketball to be expected when post season play rolls around next month as the intensity was that of a post season state tournament atmosphere between two very seasoned and determined squads.
North Delta and Oak Hill battled back and forth in a fast paced opening quarter in which the two squads produced three ties and three lead changes. Oak Hill grabbed the biggest lead of the quarter at 9-6 on a Tori Ellis 3-pointer from the wing at the 2:15 mark but that slim advantage was short lived as North Delta finished the first quarter with an 8-3 run spurred on by a 3-pointer from Bradi Beard and another from Claire Gant as time expired to give the Lady Wave a 14-12 lead after one quarter of play.
North Delta exploded to start the second quarter with a 9-0 run. Laci DuBravec drilled a 3-pointer from the corner and Bradi Beard converted on a transition basket. Katelyn Still then served up an assist to Hanna Greenlee in the paint and DuBravec sank a 12 foot jumper to give North Delta a 23-12 lead with less than three minutes gone in the quarter.
After Oak Hill threatened to produce a run of their own with two consecutive buckets North Delta finished the last four minutes of the quarter much like they started it. DuBravec canned a 3-pointer from the wing at the 3:43 mark to put North Delta up 26-16 and following an Oak Hill free throw DuBravec drained another 3-pointer, this one from the top of the key. North Delta capped an 8-1 quarter ending run on Bradi Beard’s driving lay-in with 8 seconds remaining in the half to give the Lady Wave a 31-17 advantage at the break.
Oak Hill could do little to close the gap in the third quarter but after North Delta grabbed their biggest lead of the night at 40-24 on a Bradi Beard basket at the 3:09 mark a momentum shift begun to take place. Oak Hill closed out the third quarter with an 8-2 run to get the deficit back to ten points at 42-32.
North Delta’s struggles at the free throw line (5/13) in the fourth quarter allowed Oak Hill an opportunity to finish strong. The Lady Raiders got within eight points at 47-39 on a Shay Atkins 8 foot baseline jumper with 3:12 remaining and cashed in on a North Delta turnover with a Tori Ellis floater off the glass to trim the deficit to 47-41 with 2:21 left.
After each squad traded a free throw North Delta extended their lead to 50-42 on a Hastings Neal jumper from the baseline but Oak Hill quickly got to within striking distance as Anna Ready hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Tori Ellis drained two free throws with 59 seconds remaining to make it 50-47.
North Delta added a free throw with 17 seconds remaining as the Lady Wave held off Oak Hill’s comeback attempt to take a 51-47 win and improve to 16-7 on the year.
North Delta’s Bradi Beard led all scorers with 17 points, Laci DuBravec added 16 (Four 3’s), Hanna Greenlee and Hastings Neal had 6 apiece and Claire Gant and Katelyn Still 3 each.
For Oak Hill (15-5) Tori Ellis and Shay Atkins each had 14 points, Anna Ready 9, Rachel Herndon 5, Codi Williams and Lauren Billington had 2 each and Maegen Ellis 1.
North Delta will take on Pillow this evening while Oak Hill will battle Kirk.
.Post Game: North Delta head coach Phil Douglas
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