By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
DELTA (January 7, 2025) – All season long, Delta coach Matt Brighton has been looking for someone to step up to help 27.0 ppg scorer Tyson Bower with the offensive load.
Just three days after a disappointing 39-37 loss to Stryker, Brighton got his wish as his Panthers placed four players in double figures, in a 63-55 win over Fairview.
The win elevated the Panthers to 5-6 on the year while Fairview fell to 5-4.
“We wanted to come out and just play basketball,” Brighton said after the victory. “We kind of didn’t play our normal style of basketball on Saturday and we played a little too tight so tonight we wanted just relax and share the ball and look to penetrate when we could.”
“We did a really nice job of that tonight and we had kids hit some big shots from guys who normally don’t shoot those shots. For us tonight luckily, they went in.”
Vincent Martinez and Brady Morr scored the first eight Panthers points of the night before Bower even took a shot.
When Bower finally drained a long range triple with 2:35 left in the first, it gave Delta the lead for good on the night at 11-9.
Bower’s second bomb from deep after a Fairview turnover, beat the quarter buzzer to increase the gap to 17-11.
Levi Panico hit a deep triple with 5:58 left in the half to chop the lead to 17-16 but the Panthers responded in another unsuspected person.
Ashton Alig came off the bench to hit from deep in the corner, then nailed a foul line jumper to start a 13-1 run that for the time being, blew the game open.
Bower tacked on two more three-balls and a pull up jumper to make it 33-20 with 2:03 to go. Fairview battled back with an 8-0 run to finish the half.
Panico found Logan Mosier against the press, then again after a Kale Salyers putback. Panico finished the burst sticking back his own miss at the buzzer to bring the Apaches within 33-28 at the break.
Triples from Salyers and Logan Olinger countered the same from Martinez and Morr to bring the Apaches within 39-37 with 5:03 on the clock in the third.
Again, Bower retaliated, hitting from outside the arc and a jumper from the left of the key to push the Panther lead back to 47-40 at the end of the third.
Panico hit from the volleyball line early in the fourth, but Delta’s answer came from Alig and Morr who each tripled to push Delta’s lead to 55-45 and the Apaches never got within two possessions again.
“We see them do it every day in practice,” Brighton explained of the shots hit by Alig, Morr and Martinez. “It’s just getting them to translate that to the game. Hopefully this is the start of something good for us.”
“We see it every day, we just have to have them have that confidence to take and hit those shots when they are meaningful.”
Bower had 25 for the night, but Alig, Martinez and Morr all got 10. Panico hit for 19 for Fairview while Olinger had 12.
FAIRVIEW (55) – Salyers 9; Zeedyk 3; Olinger 12; Panico 19; J. Shininger 0; Meade 0; Brady 0; N. Shininger 6; Mosier 6; Totals: 11-10-3 – 55
DELTA (63) – Martinez 10; Alig 10; Bower 25; Gibbons 0; Morr 10; York 6; Lintermoot 2; Hallett 0; Totals: 10-12-7 – 63
FHS 11 17 12 15 – 55
DHS 17 16 14 16 – 63
Junior Varsity: Fairview, 44-33
