BOB FISHER HOLIDAY CLASSIC CHAMPIONS – DELTA PANTHERS
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
SWANTON (December 28, 2024) – After a lackluster effort the previous day against Swanton, Delta was..well..more Delta like, using a 26-3 first half run to blow out Otsego, 55-35, in the finals of the Fisher Holiday Tournament in Swanton.
“They definitely came to play tonight,” Panther coach Kelsey Gillen stated of her team’s performance in the title game versus the previous night’s blowout win over Swanton.
“We brought the pressure tonight. They got a few triples on us early, but we were able to give them something they weren’t comfortable with pressure wise.”
With 6:37 left in the first quarter, Jocelynn Cornell hit a corner three-ball to give Otsego (3-8) a 6-4 lead. From that point, it was all Panthers.
Delta forced 11 first quarter turnovers, two of which turned into coast-to-coast scores by Anna Lohman and Addy Wyse, and another that Abbey Todd made good with a long triple that gave the Panthers a 16-6 lead.
With the Panthers ahead 17-9, Lohman began a personal assault on the Knights, accounting for the next 13 Delta points.
The freshman guard found Kendall Sprow and Todd for wide open triples, dished to Todd and Wyse for fast break hoops off turnovers, and buried her own long three-pointer to jet the Panthers up 30-9 at the half.
“She was in urgent care this morning,” Gillen said, regarding Lohman. “She wasn’t good at all but got some rest and came ready to go no matter how she felt, and she was really good tonight.”
In all Delta harassed the Knights into 20 turnovers in the first 16 minutes and just 3/12 shooting from the floor.
That rash of turnovers came to a head in the first minute of the third as two Sprow steals led to two Lohman hoops, those coupled with Todd’s swipe and score blew the game wide open at 38-9.
Lohman’s cross-step move down the key with four minutes left in the quarter gave the Panthers their biggest bulge at 44-13, when Gillen began to run the line changes out for the rest of the night.
Lohman’s 20 led the Panthers and Todd added 15.
The fast-paced Panthers (8-0) committed just five turnovers in the first three periods while forcing 25.
DELTA (55) – Maynhart 0; Lohman 20; Todd 15; Kruger 2; Friess 0; A. Gillen 0; Sprow 7; Wyse 6; K. Gillen 3; Mohring 0; Perdew 2; Totals: 16-6-5 – 55
OTSEGO (35) – Euler 0; Villarreal 0; Lampe 3; Etchie 6; Cornell 6; Lehr 2; Williams 3; Brokamp 0; Zsigray 4; Hartman 3; Lorenz 2; Ayers 6; Totals: 8-6-1 – 35
DHS 16 14 16 9 – 55
OHS 9 0 10 16 – 35