CONNERSVILLE, Ind — When she took the Delta girls’ basketball head coaching job ahead of the 2023-24 season, Ty’Ronda Benning knew she could improve the program.
Before this season, she listed goals for the Eagles.
“I had all these visions and I had all these goals that I tried to pursue,” Benning said. “I told them at the beginning of the season, my personal goal was to win the sectional and the regional. I believed we could do it.”
In only her second season, she kept good on her promise, leading the Eagles to something no Delta team has done since 1993; win a sectional championship victory. Ahead of the title game against rival Yorktown Saturday night, she told the team that defense was going to be the name of the game.
“At the end of the night, somebody's gonna win and somebody's gonna lose,” she said. “I told my girls, the team who plays the best defense is gonna win this game. The team who has the most energy is gonna win this game.”
After four quarters of basketball at the Connersville Spartan Bowl, the blue and gold defeated the Tigers 61-44, lifting their first sectional championship trophy in 32 years.
“I think it all comes back to Eagle pride, the community, the coaches [and] the players,” Delta athletic director Tilmon Clark said. “It takes everybody, so it's really cool to see everybody excited … That's really what it's all about.”
The contest between the two Delaware County rivals began with the Eagles jumping to a 4-0 lead. Though Yorktown battled back to only trail 7-5 a few moments later, the Eagles began to turn up the pace.
It started when junior Elizabeth Bamidele stole the ball on an inbound pass and scored a layup. Following that, the entire team began to follow her lead. At halftime, the Eagles led 29-14, and after the break, nothing changed.
Though Delta’s (17-7) defense showed up, so did their offense. Junior Olivia Marshall turned up the heat from the 3-point line, hitting three consecutive shots in the third quarter. All of a sudden, the Eagles led the Tigers 38-19.
“The important thing that we're talking about before the end was just possession, take it one possession at a time, don't look at the big picture as much,” Marshall said.
The help from Marshall and Bamidele came in at the right time as Delta was without junior Griffyn Knight, who was out due to a leg injury. Later in the game, the Eagle faithful chanted her name, and right after that, Benning put her on the court.
To Delta’s head coach, players like Marshall and Bamidele answered the call when Knight went down.
“I invest in all my kids and it's one of those things where they understand that I am investing in them. I care about all of them equally,” Benning said. “They understand that if it's not your turn, it's just not your turn. Just keep working harder. But when it is your turn, you gotta be able to step up and take that role.”
Though the Tigers (17-7) found some success in the fourth quarter, they could not complete the comeback. In the end, the Eagles led the entire game. After the contest emotions were high. Players were crying, fans were cheering and then dancing broke out.
It was the moment the team’s been building to the last two seasons.
“I was literally five years old the last time that Delta had won a sectional [title],” Benning said. “...We all knew that we had the opportunity [and] that everything's in our favor.”
Delta junior Jillian Barr led the Eagles with 31 points, a season-high. She wears the No. 31 across her chest because her grandpa wore the same number when he played. He passed away recently, and she said the performance was for him.
“It feels great to know that he was with me the whole time,” Barr said.
Behind Barr was Marshall with nine points. For Yorktown, Lilly Sylvester and sophomore Olivia Conklin each had 16.
Though the Eagles are looking forward to the regional game — the location and opponent are to be determined — there are zero seniors on this team. They want to continue this, and it starts with the rest of the postseason.
But in the end, everyone said the same thing after the contest. This accomplishment started with Benning.
“I know Ty’Ronda saw this happening,” Bamidele said. “She's invested so much time into us and she just believes in us so much that saw this going.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
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