OPEN FOR THREE … Reagan Rouleau unloads a triple in the second half of Thursday night’ district semifinal win over Eastwood. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
WHITEHOUSE, OHIO-The second Division III district semifinal at Anthony Wayne High School was a tale of two halves. The first half was the tight battle you would expect in a matchup of the number two and number three seeds in the district.
But in the second half, No.2 seed Delta caught fire by going 13/21 shooting compared to just 3/25 by No.3 seed Eastwood as they rolled to a 53-27 win.
The first quarter was a game of runs as Delta broke a 2-2 deadlock with a 9-0 scoring run to take a 11-2 lead with 3:17 left in the first quarter.
After a Brooklyn Wymer made a 12-2 game, it was Eastwood’s turn as they ended the quarter with an 8-0 surge to trim the Panthers lead to 12-10.
Brooklyn Green went 2/2 at line for the Panthers before Aubrey Haas and Kayla Buehler had field goals for the Eagles to tie the game at 14.
Delta ended the half with a 6-2 spurt on a bucket by Green, two free throws from Reagan Rouleau, and a field goal by Ella Ford to take a 20-16 halftime lead.
The second quarter was a struggle on offense for both teams with Delta going 2/9 with four turnovers and Eastwood was 3/11 and had five turnovers.
A Buehler triple for Eastwood trimmed the Delta lead to 20-19 before the Panthers offense began to heat up.
Braelyn Wymer started things for Delta by going 3/3 at line after being fouled on a three-point attempt as the Panthers lead grew to 27-21 after Wymer added another three-pointer.
The run would continue with a field goal by Rouleau, a triple by Green, and then Green scored on an offensive rebound following a Rouleau miss to make it 34-21 Delta after three quarters.
Delta put the game on ice with a 15-2 tear in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter as Brealyn Wymer hit for two followed by a three from Rouleau to get things started.
Green added a basket, and after two field goals each from Wymer and Rouleau the Panthers lead had ballooned to 49-23.
Delta, who was 9/10 from the floor in the fourth quarter, went 19/39 (48%) on the night and outrebounded Eastwood 33-19.
Green led the way for Delta with a game-high 16 points, Rouleau had 13, and Braelyn Wymer added 10.
Eastwood finished the game 11/45 (24%) shooting and was led in scoring by Haas who had 11.
Another Northern Buckeye Conference team awaits Delta (16-6) in Saturday afternoon’s district championship game as they will face No.1 seed Elmwood at Anthony Wayne High School.
Tipoff is set for 2pm.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Delta 12 8 14 19 53
Eastwood 10 6 5 6 27
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com