YORKTOWN, IND - Yorktown's gym was packed and loud last night for the semi-finals of the Delaware County Athletic Association (DCAA) girl’s basketball tournament.
Between two games, fans saw a 29-point performance – in a loss – and a game in which the teams only made one combined three-point shot.
Both were incredible performances and the energy in the gym was high throughout the night. Here is a recap of the semi-final games.
Game One - Delta: 53 Yorktown: 50
Game one of two was between arguably Delaware County’s most intense rivals. Across all sports, Delta vs. Yorktown is seen by most players from each school as one of the biggest on the calendar.
Add in the fact it was for a spot in the county championship game between two teams with 11 wins each, and the obvious factor of a Yorktown transfer in the Delta starting lineup; the tension in the gym was high.
The game started slow, with the first points coming three minutes into the game from Yorktown sophomore guard Olivia Conklin’s free throws. Delta head coach Tyronda Benning called an early timeout before Conklin stepped to the line, but she hit both.
After those free throws for Yorktown, the Tigers did not score until the five-minute mark in the second quarter. Yorktown went almost 10 minutes of play without scoring a single bucket.
“The girls were just in the right spots,” Benning said. “They were all the things that we talked about defensively. They were doing it but, of course, you're not gonna get every possession to be perfect, but overall, they played really good defense.”
That “really good defense” held Yorktown's leading scorer, junior Lilly Sylvester, to just two points and the entire team to just 12. Delta went into the break up 25-12 with all the momentum.
Yorktown came out of the half running, the Tigers made two quick layups and got the game to within single digits for the first time since the opening quarter. Two Sylvester buckets forced a Delta timeout early in the half.
Delta controlled the rest of that quarter, stretching its lead to 43-29. With the game seemingly out of reach for the struggling Yorktown offense, it would have been easy for the Tigers to roll over and let Delta run away with it. But they did not.
Yorktown outscored Delta 21-10 in the final frame behind 26 second-half points from Sylvester. Yorktown head coach Leigh Ann Barga felt that if her girls could have put together a cleaner first half, it could be her Tigers playing Saturday night for the championship.
“If we didn't have 14 turnovers in the first half,” she said. “And if we would have played the first half the way we played the second half, it could be a whole different ball game. But they were prepared and we weren’t.”
Yorktown was in position to take the game, but two costly turnovers with under a minute to play seemed to have been the difference maker. Delta came out on top and will defend its county title against Wapahani in the Eagles’ gym.
“I’m just happy for our girls,” Benning said. “They were really excited about this game and they were really happy about this game. They've been working hard, so, either way, I'm happy for my girls.”
Game Two - Wapahani: 40 Daleville: 28
Game two of the night was not quite the rivalry the first was, but the contest between two Mid-Eastern Conference foes was not one to bat an eye at.
The first time Wapahani and Daleville played this season was a 48-40 game that went in favor of the Raiders Nov. 23. That score was much closer than the 12-point win Wapahani came away with en route to a championship game appearance.
Wapahani led 7-4 in the first quarter when Daleville head coach Joe Rench called a timeout. Rench was not pleased with the effort he saw out of his girls against the Raiders.
“I think that was the worst game that we played all year,” he said “But we gotta have better effort if you're gonna beat a team like Wapahani. They're not 15 and two for nothing.”
At halftime, the Raiders only led by four points at 22-16. The Broncos had some momentum but their leading scorer, senior Addisyn Gothrup went down and was unable to return for the remainder of the game.
“We lost our leading scorer, and when you lose 15 points a game, other people need to step up and it’s the first time we haven't had it all year,” Wrench said. “That plays a big part in it. I mean, we had to have people do stuff that they normally don't do. It just trickled downhill and it didn’t work out.”
Although Wapahani was able to advance to the championship game, head coach Scott Hudson thought his team was not as sharp as usual. With the Raiders not making a single shot from deep, something that has not happened all season for them.
“I just think the big thing is you just wanna live to fight another day and we advanced,” he said. “We found a way, but Daleville did a nice job. They held in there, but we advanced. We weren't as sharp as we like to be but the girls did what they had to do to win. We were very proud of that, we're very happy to be in the championship.”
The girls’ championship game Jan. 18 will tip-off at 6 p.m. between Wapahani and Delta.
Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor
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