By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
DELTA (January 25, 2025) – Some days you don’t shoot it very well. Delta didn’t…33 percent from the field.
And some days you don’t take care of the basketball very well. And Delta didn’t do that either…22 turnovers. But when you win 17 straight games, you find a way. Delta did.
The Panthers guarded the perimeter like a champ in the fourth quarter and got two big buckets late to pull away from pesky Whitmer in a 45-40 victory.
“We were struggling today,” Delta coach Kelsey Gillen said after. “The girls had some moments when they were frustrated, and they started to fall apart a little bit.”
“I’m proud of them because it didn’t let them or cause them to cave. They continued to work hard and that’s all I ask of them.”
In the beginning it looked like many other Delta wins this year. Abbey Todd stuck two first quarter triples, the Panthers hit 5/6 first quarter free throws and forced eight Whitmer turnovers to race out to a 15-6 lead.
Kendall Sprow forced in a shot from the key and hit two more from the line around a Keagyn Gillen transition hoop to increase the gap to 21-10 with 4:40 left in the first half.
All of a sudden, the Delta offense went silent. Addison Wyse’s basket two minutes later was the only Delta score the rest of the half and Whitmer chipped away.
Olivia Lohmeyer scored in close, and Madison Finch drained a triple to get the Delta lead down to six.
Adalyn Johnson chopped that in half when she threw one off the glass and in from 45 feet out at the second quarter buzzer to make it 23-20.
Back-to-back Olivia Welch baskets to begin the third put Whitmer up 24-23. Anna Lohman scored the next seven points, two free throws, a triple and a sidestep layup off a turnover, to get Delta back on top 30-24 but Whitmer countered.
Annessia Osley hit from long range, then scored off a Delta turnover to knot the game at 32-32 with 2:09 left in the third.
Todd’s 2/2 from the line got Delta back up heading into the fourth, and Sprow’s turnaround jumper gave Delta a 39-33 advantage with 6:05 to go.
Osley’s second triple cut the margin to 39-37 and after Todd split from the stripe, Whitmer got even closer when Nicole Deiley got to the rim in transition to make it 40-39 with three minutes to go.
But Delta came up with two big plays to put the game away. Todd found Sprow for a layup against the press and Wyse scored a fast break hoop after a Whitmer missed to open up a 44-39 gap.
Whitmer, who went 2/12 in the fourth from the field, missed on four three-point attempts and five shots in all down the stretch.
“We told our girls we had to keep the pressure on up top, get some stops on defense,” Gillen said. “Because of that we got through this.”
Sprow had 12 and Lohman 11 to pace Delta (17-0). Finch scored 12 for Whitmer (7-11).
Delta plays Wauseon Thursday night in an important NWOAL contest.
WHITMER (40) – Finch 12; Deiley 5; Johnson 5; Murnen 0; Scott 0; Welch 5; Swain 0; Osley 8; Lohmeyer 5; Totals: 8-6-6 – 40
DELTA (45) – Lohman 11; Todd 9; Krueger 0; Friess 0; Sprow 12; Wyse 7; K. Gillen 6; Totals: 11-3-14 – 45
WHS 6 14 12 8 – 40
DHS 15 8 11 11 – 45