North Delta rallies to edge Oak Hill

Southern Sports & Travel

North Delta and Oak Hill met for the fourth time this season in the semi-finals of the Class AA North State Tournament in Batesville on Friday afternoon and for nearly three quarters of play it appeared that sixth ranked Oak Hill would even the series at two apiece but North Delta seniors Bradi Beard, Katelyn Still and Laci DuBravec caught fire in the second half to lead the fourth ranked team in Class AA to a 53-47 come from behind victory.

With the win North Delta advances to do battle with top ranked Leake on Saturday afternoon. Leake defeated ninth ranked Riverdale 56-48 in the late game of the semi-finals.

North Delta struggled in the first quarter of their game with Oak Hill. The Lady Waves committed seven turnovers in the quarter and had trouble attacking the Oak Hill defense.

(Above) North Delta's Katelyn Still (#42) drives for 2 of her 17 points

Oak Hill jumped out to a 5-0 lead three minutes into the quarter and it wasn’t until the 5:03 mark that North Delta got on the board when Laci DuBravec canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

North Delta’s Katelyn Still converted on three of four free throws on consecutive trips down the floor to trim the deficit to 7-6 with 2:52 remaining but Oak Hill closed out the opening quarter strong.

Anna Ready drained a 3-pointer from the wing and Oak Hill would convert on six of eight free throws the remaining two minutes of the quarter to take a 16-7 lead into the second period.

The Lady Raiders threatened to blow the game open at the start of the second quarter as Tori Ellis hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 19-7 with 6:34 left in the half but North Delta started chipping away at the Oak Hill lead.

With 1:33 left in the half a Rachel Herndon offensive rebound and put back gave Oak Hill a 27-19 advantage but North Delta finished the half with a flurry.

Katelyn Still missed the tail-end of a one and one but Bradi Beard snagged the offensive rebound and got the basket, plus one, to trim the deficit to 27-23 with 49 seconds left in the half.

Beard would convert on two free throws seven seconds later to make it 27-25 and after Oak Hill’s Tori Ellis sank an 18 foot jumper to give the Lady Raider’s some breathing room at 29-25, Laci DuBravec brought down the house with a long 3-pointer from the wing with 15 seconds left to close out the half trailing Oak Hill 29-28.

(Above) Shay Atkins (#30) of Oak Hill gets off a contested  jumper in the first half

Oak Hill quickly extended the lead back to five points to start the third quarter and increased it to six points at 39-33 on a Tori Ellis basket in the paint with 2:02 left in the quarter but North Delta seniors Bradi Beard and Katelyn Still registered back to back 3-pointers to knot the game at 39-39 with just over one minute left in the third quarter.

A Rachel Herndon free throw at the 17 seconds mark put Oak Hill back on top at 40-39 but North Delta would take their first lead of the afternoon on Katelyn Still’s driving lay-in with four seconds showing on the clock to give the Lady Waves a 41-40 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

North Delta continued their run to start the fourth quarter. Katelyn Still went glass in the lane forty seconds into the quarter and DuBravec hit another long 3-pointer to cap a 15-3 North Delta run and give the Lady Waves a 46-40 lead with 6:29 left to play.

Oak Hill proved why they’re one of the premier girl’s teams in Class AA as the Lady Raiders answered with five straight points to get back to within one point at 46-45 and two Shay Atkins free throws would cap off a 7-0 run to give Oak Hill the lead at 47-46 with 4:37 remaining.

Oak Hill failed to capitalize on two consecutive North Delta turnovers and with 3:02 remaining Laci DuBravec’s 17 foot jumper put North Delta on top for good at 48-47.

North Delta cashed in on an Oak Hill turnover as Charla Shae Darby hit a 15 foot jumper to push the lead up to three points at 50-47 with 2:11 to play and the Lady Waves sank three free throws down the stretch while holding Oak Hill scoreless the final four minutes of the game to earn a 53-47 semi-final win.

Bradi Beard and Katelyn Still led North Delta with 17 points each, Laci DuBravec added 15 and Hanna Greenlee and Charla Shae Darby 2 apiece.

Oak Hill was led by senior Tori Ellis who finished with 17 points, Shay Atkins added 12 and Rachel Herndon and Anna Ready had 9 each.

North Delta improves to 30-8 on the season while Oak Hill slips to 26-9.

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Post Game with North Delta head coach Phil Douglas